INDIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEFS ON
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SP's Aviation - ISSUE No 03-13

Issue Features

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  India Inc. Rising
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

  Aero India 2013 was certainly important with regard to the “trade” aspect of the exposition as it would serve to provide a powerful impetus to offset business worth billions of dollars.

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  Flying Solar
  

  With the photovoltaic cells on the large roof, it is a full-electric aircraft

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  IAF for More Embraer Legacy
  By SP's Special Correspondent

  The Indian Air Force (IAF) is in the process of drawing up a requirement for additional Embraer ECJ-135 Legacy jets for VVIP transport.

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  Indian Interest in V-22 Osprey Intensifies
  By SP's Special Correspondent

  The Indian armed forces appear ready to consider the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey as a possible future platform.

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  Avro Replacement Programme Will be a Two-Horse Race?
  By SP's Special Correspondent

  Waiting in the wings for an urgent replacement are the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) vintage HS-748 Avro transports...

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  Finally, Indo-French SR-SAM Programme Takes Off
  By SP's Special Correspondent

  After years in discussions, the Indo-French ‘Maitri’ short-range surface-to-air missile (SR-SAM) programme is ready to be concluded.

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  Trainer - IAF in a Dilemma
  By Air Marshal (Retd) Anil Chopra

  Delay in the intermediate jet trainer (IJT) programme and its impact on training have been questioned by parliamentarians.

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  Exercise - Iron Fist 2013
  By Air Marshal (Retd) Anil Chopra in Pokhran

  This year, the day, dusk and night event showcased all facets of air power with participation by the entire inventory of manned and unmanned aircraft, air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons, Special Forces and net-centric warfare capability

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  Fact file: Gulfstream in India
  By R. Chandrakanth

  Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation which views India as a long-term growth market for its range of business jets has just released a fact sheet for the Asia-Pacific region wherein it shows ‘tremendous growth’ for Gulfstream.

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  Betting on Civil Aviation
  By R. Chandrakanth

  The civil aviation industry in India is all set to gather momentum and the government is working at creating eco-systems that will spur this growth

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  Fly Regional, Go Global
  By Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha

  Regional aviation in its purest form consists of taking aviation services to remote locations that are not attractive enough for the mainline carriers.

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  Chinese Industry - Coming of Age
  By Air Marshal (Retd) Anil Chopra

  The last two years has seen China simultaneously managing multiple advanced aircraft programmes. Currently, no other nation can afford to allocate such resources, both human and financial, towards achieving its long-term goal of becoming a superpower.

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  Aero India 2013 - Coming of Age
  By R. Chandrakanth

  The international air shows at Le Bourget, Paris, and Farnborough, London, continue to be top-notch, though the major buyers of both defence and commercial aviation products could be outside Europe.

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  HAL on Restructuring Mode
  By R. Chandrakanth

  Aerospace major HAL is in a massive restructuring and expansion mode as aerospace and defence sectors are becoming highly dynamic in the Indian context.

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  Eurocopter's India Plans
  By R. Chandrakanth

  “We are not shy of cooperating in India. As such our helicopters know the Indian skies, they know every corner of the country,” said Dr Lutz Bertling, President and CEO of Eurocopter

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  Beechcraft offers Special Mission capabilities on KingAir 350i
  By R. Chandrakanth

  Hawker Beechcraft’s chalet was in one far corner of Aero India 2013, getting lesser eyeballs than many other companies...

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  General Aviation: The Next Steps - A Glimmer of Hope
  By Sucheta Das Mohapatra

  A day-long seminar was organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the US-India Aviation Cooperation Programme on efforts to boost general aviation...

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  Mercury 13
  By Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha, Goa

  Although the Mercury 13 space project was unceremoniously terminated, many of the women went on to extraordinary achievements in other fields. On June 16, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.

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  A Word from Editor-in-Chief
  By Jayant Baranwal, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

  Our esteemed readers will notice the change in the design and outlook of the magazine from this issue onwards. The objective behind this has been to offer “sharp content for our sharp audience”.

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  Proposal to Purchase 197 Choppers Put Off
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

  A decision to procure 197 light helicopters which have come under scrutiny over allegations of deviation from the tendering process was put off, a move that comes against the backdrop of a scam in another chopper deal involving complainant AgustaWestland of Italy.

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  Ill-timed Cuts
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

  While it is true that economic growth provides the nation the wherewithal to ensure higher levels of national security, it is also equally true that without high level of security in the first place, it will be well-nigh impossible to achieve a respectable level of economic growth