INDIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEFS ON
OUR RELENTLESS AND FOCUSED PUBLISHING EFFORTS

 
SP Guide Publications puts forth a well compiled articulation of issues, pursuits and accomplishments of the Indian Army, over the years

— General Manoj Pande, Indian Army Chief

 
 
I am confident that SP Guide Publications would continue to inform, inspire and influence.

— Admiral R. Hari Kumar, Indian Navy Chief

Since, its inception in 1964, SP Guide Publications has consistently demonstrated commitment to high-quality journalism in the aerospace and defence sectors, earning a well-deserved reputation as Asia's largest media house in this domain. I wish SP Guide Publications continued success in its pursuit of excellence.

— Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, Indian Air Force Chief
SP's Military Yearbook 2021-2022
SP's Military Yearbook 2021-2022

SP's Aviation - ISSUE No 6-2018

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Issue Features

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    TRIBUTE
    World Remembers Serge Dassault

    On May 28, 2018, the aviation community the world over was shocked by the news of the demise of one of the living legends of the global aviation industry, Serge Dassault, former Chairman of Dassault Group. This is a France-based group of companies established in 1929 and today, is a global leader in the production of both military aircraft and business jets.

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    INDUSTRY | VIEWPOINT
    Dassault & Airbus a Formidable Partnership
    By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)

    Although Dassault Aviation and Airbus have historically been rivals, under the newly emerging political dispensation, they have decided to jointly embark on a major venture of global significance

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    MILITARY | NAVAL AVIATION
    Carrier-Borne Fighters as of Today
    By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)

    Carrier-borne aircraft have come a long way in respect of capability to project air power leading to a paradigm shift in the military capability of a nation

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    MILITARY | REFUELLER
    IAF’s Quest for Flight Refueller
    By Group Captain A.K. Sachdev (Retd)

    While the process for selection of a new FRA is underway, there is trepidation amongst IAF circles about the budgetary deprivation afflicting the defence services

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    CIVIL | TECHNOLOGY
    Are Flying Cars the future of Indian Aviation?
    By Arpita Kala

    From Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha endorsing Flying Rickshaws to IIT-Kanpur- VTOL Aviation India’s 15 crore collab to make flying cars, SP’s Aviation separates facts from fiction.

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    EXCLUSIVE

    CIVIL | TECHNOLOGY
    Beating Traffic Blues
    By Ramees Muhammed, Head of Design, Electric Visionary Aircraft

    Imagine a world without the stress of traffic, where mobility is a breeze, where you can enjoy the best of technology... EVA (Electric Visionary Aircrafts) is the first Compact Autonomous E-VTOL (Electric Vertical and Take-OFF Landing).

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    EXCLUSIVE

    CIVIL | INTERVIEW
    “Jayant Sinha’s ‘Drone Rickshaw’ is a Possibility Only in a Smart City”
    By Arpita Kala

    Co-founder of PigeonIS, Dewang Gala, talks using drone technology to replace manual labour and civil aviation ministry’s drone policy

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    CIVIL | REGIONAL AVIATION
    COMAC C919 – Emerging Challenge to Existing Players
    By Group Captain A.K. Sachdev (Retd)

    The C919 is set to significantly change the narrow-body airliner segment in the next three years or so when its deliveries commence

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    BUSINESS AVIATION | SHOW REPORT
    Flying into the Future with Brexit, Alternative Jet Fuels & Airspace Issues
    By Arpita Kala

    Aviators around the globe convened at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) to take stock of the business aviation scenario

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

    The Indian aerospace industry has embarked on a project for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, a fifth-generation combat aircraft to be designed, developed and built by the indigenous aerospace industry.

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    NEWS WITH VIEWS
    Indigenous Fifth-Gen Combat Aircraft
    By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)

    The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which had conceived and designed the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, has set the ball rolling for building the next-generation combat platform, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

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    HALL OF FAME
    Samuel Langley (1834-1906)
    By Joseph Noronha

    Around 1885, Samuel Langley began to take a keen interest in flight and soon started experimenting with rubber-band powered scale models and gliders

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    LAST WORD
    No Alternative to Self Reliance
    By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)

    Procurement of combat aircraft for the IAF is not only becoming an expensive proposition bordering the unaffordable, but increasingly difficult as well.

  • NEWS | DIGEST
    Appointments

    Safran Helicopter Engines has appointed Florent Chauvancy Executive Vice President, OEM Sales, succeeding Maxime Faribault who is retiring....

  • NEWS | DIGEST
    Quick RoundUp

    The Boeing Company, Washington, has been awarded a $416,438,385 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for the manufacture and delivery of three Lot-9 full-rate production P-8A...

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    NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    Raksha Mantri Inaugurates BEL Office in Vietnam

    Raksha Mantri, Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the first Representative Office of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Hanoi, Vietnam on June 13, 2018 by handing over the symbolic key of the office to Chairman & Managing Director, BEL, Gowtama MV

  • NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    AH-64E Apache Helicopters For India

    The US State Department has approved FMS to India of items in support of a proposed direct commercial sale of six AH-64E Apache helicopters for an estimated cost of $930 million.

  • NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    International Air Force Conference

    Commanders of over 20 air forces from around the world arrived in Israel to participate in the International Air Force Commanders Conference on May 28, 2018, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Israeli Air Force.

  • NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    Turkish T-129 ATAK Helicopter for Pakistan

    Turkey has developed the T-129 ATAK helicopter from the Agusta A-129 Mangusta which is in service with the Turkish armed forces since 2014. According to an election manifesto dated May 24, 2018, of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, Ankara and Islamabad...

  • NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    PLA To Get Missile-Borne Anti-Jamming Antenna

    Jin Zhongshu, Deputy General Manager of the Beijing Li Gong Navigation Technology Company, said during an interview, on the sidelines of the China Satellite Navigation Exhibition that China’s missile-borne anti-jamming antenna...

  • NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    Rustom-2 Drones To Be Ready By 2020

    Speaking on the sidelines of the convocation ceremony of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) on May 25, 2018, S Christopher, Chairman of DRDO said that Rustom drone will be delivered to the Indian armed forces by 2020.

  • NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    Air Operations By Night From China’s Aircraft Carrier

    China Central Television has released a video clip of night takeoffs and landings of Chinese carrier-borne aircraft on May 24, 2018. It implies that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning (Hull 16) has taken a key step towards acquiring all-weather combat capability.

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    NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    Meteor BVR Missile for IAF’s Russian Platforms

    India’s plans to equip its Russian SU-30MKI and indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas with long range Meteor beyond visual range (BVR) missiles, may face hurdles as its European manufacturers have informed the government...

  • NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    Contract for Raytheon Self Protect Systems

    Raytheon has been awarded a contract for its Self Protect Systems in support of a radar upgrade. The $90 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract provides for the fabrication, integration, testing and delivery of the AN/ALR-69A digital radar...

  • NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    PLAAF’s Joint Air Defence Exercise “Blue Shield-18”

    A ground joint air-defence exercise codenamed “Blue Shield-18” and organised by the PLA Air Force with participation of air defence units from the PLA Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force commenced in North China on the morning of June 5, 2018.

  • NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    DAC approves Acquisition proposals worth over Rs. 5500 crore

    The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Raksha Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman, met on June 7, 2018 and accorded approval for the procurement of equipment for the Defence Forces valued at over Rs. 5,500 crore.

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    NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    Agni-5 Missile Successfully Tested

    The long range ballistic missile Agni 5 has been successfully flight tested on June 3, 2018 from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island). All the Radars, Electro Optical Tracking Stations and Telemetry Stations tracked the vehicle all through the course of the trajectory.

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    NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    Tata Boeing Aerospace Delivers First Apache Fuselage

    On June 1, 2018, Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited announced the delivery of the first AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fuselage ahead of schedule from its state-ofthe-art facility in Hyderabad.

  • NEWS | DIGEST: INDUSTRY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    ST Engineering Adopts Masterbrand For Its Subsidiaries To Drive Growth In Key Global Markets

    ST Engineering announced that it is undertaking a group-wide branding exercise to firstly, adopt a single brand approach by harmonising all its corporate brands by using “ST Engineering” as a masterbrand, and secondly...

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    NEWS | DIGEST: INDUSTRY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    Israel’s Cormorant vertical take-off and landing UAV

    The Israeli company Tactical Robotics has recently demonstrated its Cormorant vertical take-off and landing UAV’s capability to carry out medical evacuation duties. The Cormorant was developed during the war in Lebanon in 2006...

  • NEWS | DIGEST: INDUSTRY | ASIA-PACIFIC
    The ATR 72-600 Arrives in Japan

    Japan Air Commuter Co. Ltd. (JAC) and ATR today announced the conversion into an ATR 72-600 of one of the ATR 42-600s that the airline currently has on order.

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    NEWS | DIGEST: INDUSTRY | EUROPE
    P.1HH HammerHead Flies Using Satellite Navigation Systems

    On May 24, 2018, Piaggio Aerospace announced the successful achievement of the first flight test programme with its remotely piloted P.1HH HammerHead aircraft, aimed at experimenting satellite control of a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) system.

  • NEWS | DIGEST: INDUSTRY | AMERICAS
    GE Introduces New Company To Develop Next Generation UTM

    GE introduced AiRXOS a new company helping to accelerate the safe, efficient, scalable integration of air and ground space for manned and unmanned vehicles.

  • NEWS | DIGEST: INDUSTRY | AMERICAS
    Boeing HorizonX Ventures Invests In Unmanned Aircraft Systems Software Startup Kittyhawk

    Boeing announced its investment in Kittyhawk, a San Francisco, Calif.- based company offering a unified approach to the safe operation of commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

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    NEWS | DIGEST: INDUSTRY | AMERICAS
    Pratt & Whitney And F-35 Program Office Announce Contract Award For 135 F135 Engines

    Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp., and the US Department of Defense announced a contract award for the 11th lot of F135 propulsion systems, powering all three variants of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft.

  • SPACE | VSS UNITY
    Unity, Welcome to Space
    By B.K. Pandey

    On December 13, Virgin Galactic scripted history with the success of the maiden space flight of VSS Unity that culminated in a safe landing, fulfilling a long awaited dream