RNI NUMBER: DELENG/2008/24199 `75.00 (India-based buyer only) Aviation www.spsaviation.net show SP’s March •2012 March News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India. stopper      2012: icauv areport     AIR F A regional aviation: untapped assets business aviation: W BO AITING Arevolution -to-surf s aviationINDIA 2012 : thedire need VISIT US a An SPGuidePublic P BONUS DISTRIBUTION BONUS age 32 ace missiles t Hall C , B ooth 3

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SP.AVI_TOANDFROM_267x210.indd 1 10/02/2012 16:04 SP’s An SP Guide Publication

Table of Contents News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India. AviationIssue 3 • 2012

With its theme “Big Show Big Opportunities” Singapore Airshow 2012 has become a global marketplace for world’s 32 aviation community supported by major industry players

first 28 Industry 4 Enhanced Versatility Photo Feature Hopes Alive

Civil conference Networking podium 12 Business Aviation 30 Report Untapped Asset Singapore Airshow 2012 had Platform for Interaction a record number of trade and 14 Regional Aviation public visitors. The six-day Awaiting a Revolution Regular Departments event witnessed about 1,45,000 16 FBO visitors and the largest ever 3 A Word from Editor The Dire Need number of top level delegations. 6 NewsWithViews 18 Industry – Mirage 2000 Crashes, Air Marshal Chopra ejects Are you Ready? • – Air India may sell its

AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION Dreamliners IBAE SP’s News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India. 8 In Focus 75.00 (INDIA-BASED BUYER ONLY) BUYER 75.00 (INDIA-BASED ` 19 Report Aviationwww.spsaviation.net MARCH • 2012 The Sinking Feeling Enhancing Relationships BONUS DISTRIBUTION INDIA AVIATION 2012 VISIT US AT HALL C, BOOTH 3 9 Forum Gasping for Funds Military

 BUSINESS AVIATION: UNTAPPED ASSETS 35 Hall of Fame  REGIONAL AVIATION: 20 Air-to-Surface Missiles AWAITING A REVOLUTION  FBOs: THE DIRE NEED Women’s Air Derby (1929)  AIR-TO-SURFACE MISSILES Battling Neighbourhood  ICAUV 2012: A REPORT

Challenges PAGE 32 36 NewsDigest

RNI NUMBER: DELENG/2008/24199 SHOW STOPPER 22 Electronic Warfare SP's Aviation Cover 03-12 final.indd 1 12/03/12 11:55 AM 40 LastWord Countering Missile Threats Cover Photo: Muse over Expatriates Photogenic view of F-35 display during Singapore UAVs 24 Airshow held in February 2012 The Ubiquitous Next Issue: Image By: Experia Events 26 SP’s Exclusive Defexpo India 2012 Special Wither Indigenisation

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 1 Table of Contents

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2 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net A Word from Editor With India Aviation 2012 round the corner, this issue deals with many more areas connected with civil aviation such as business/general aviation, infrastructure and FBO requirements in India

hile the global civil aviation fraternity is of the inbuilt logistical problems of transportation, storage converging onto India’s southern peninsu- and refuelling. The government would do great service to the la for the forthcoming India Aviation 2012 beleaguered sector by rationalising the ATF prices within the to be held from March 14-18 at Begumpet country to bring these closer to the international norms, as airport in Hyderabad, the airline indus- also, standardise these throughout the country by making try in India continues to crowd the media the sales tax on ATF specific instead of ad valorem. headlines for all the wrong reasons. Heading the latest nose- With India Aviation 2012 round the corner, this issue Wdive is Dr Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines which seems also deals with many more areas connected with civil avia- to be staring at a possible terminal illness, being subjected to tion such as business/general aviation, infrastructure and never ending financial blows by its creditors and suppliers. fixed-base operator (FBO) requirements in India. Essen- But Kingfisher alone is not the only sufferer; practically all tially, India’s civil aviation potential and growth story is not the airlines in India—big or small—are suffering from vary- only intact but gathering greater and greater momentum ing degrees of financial distress. The story of Air India, which by the day. Hopefully, the government would pay heed to has by now outlived even the notorious sobriquet of being bring pragmatic policy decisions into play, to spur growth called a ‘white elephant’, is well known to be repeated. With and achieve the desired results in this vital sector of the na- a staggering cumulative loss in excess of `60,000 crore ($12 tion’s economy. billion), it would have wound up long ago but for the regular And, on that hopeful note, we look forward to meeting hefty sums of public money being doled out by the obliging you at the India Aviation 2012 pavillion. Do visit us at Stall government to keep it afloat. Jet Airways, the biggest private 3, Hall C at Begumpet airport in Hyderabad. carrier in India, though not as badly affected as the King- Wishing you happy reading and happier landings! fisher is also struggling hard to contain its losses. By now it is evident that it is not only the flawed business models of the Indian carriers but also skewed government policies which have led to the present morass in the civil aviation sector. However, it is still not too late to salvage the situation, but for that, a comprehensive policy direction is needed by the government to address the prevailing crisis and lay a path for future growth. There is indeed an urgent need for the government to create an industry-friendly and financially pragmatic environment in the civil aviation sector. First and foremost, the government should get over the bo- gey of ‘security risks’ and allow foreign airlines to enter the Indian civil aviation market. A liberal FDI regime would pave the way for foreign airlines to participate in India’s aviation sector and strengthen it. The government should seriously consider allowing foreign airlines to invest up to 49 per cent at least in the cash-starved domestic air carriers. Then there is the issue of ATF prices in India which are amongst the highest in the world. The Indian Government’s recent policy Jayant Baranwal decision to allow direct import of ATF from abroad by the In- Publisher & Editor-in-Chief dian carriers though welcome falls short on promise because

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 3 irst F F

Eurocopter has unveiled its Enhanced new EC130 T2 with optimised performance, comfort Versatility and mission diversity

urocopter has unveiled its newest heli- increased maintenance accessibility for electrical and air copter, the EC130 T2, which features enhanced conditioning systems. comfort, improved operational performance and The EC130 T2’s increased performance is provided by increased versatility for the company’s lightweight its Turbomeca Arriel 2D engine, which provides 10 per cent Esingle-­engine product line. more average power than the EC130’s current power plant The EC130 T2 was revealed during a ceremony at the with lower specific fuel consumption. Based on the proven 2012 Heli-Expo exhibition in Dallas, Texas, where Eurocop- Arriel 2 engine family, the Arriel 2D benefits from such tech- ter also announced seven launch customers for the rotary- nology advancements as a new axial compressor and new wing aircraft covering a total of 105 bookings—Maverick blade materials, and also provides a higher time between Helicopters, Papillon Helicopters, Blue Hawaiian Helicop- overhaul (TBO) intervals. ters, Scandinavian Helicopter Group, Air Commander, Eu- The optional features on the EC130 T2 are a new-gener- ropavia and Enloe FlightCare. ation air conditioning unit, tinting of the helicopter’s wrap- While retaining the EC130’s existing external lines, ap- around windshield, and a right-hand sliding passenger door. proximately 70 per cent of the EC130 T2’s airframe struc- The air conditioning system includes design optimisation ture has been modified. The new and updated features on for improved performance, effective hot/cold temperature the helicopter include the use of a more powerful Arriel 2D control, and better air distribution. Derived from the system turboshaft engine and upgraded main gearbox; the incor- on Eurocopter’s EC175 seven-tonne-class helicopter, it uses poration of an active vibration control system; improved a simple control box with straightforward operating logic air ventilation, distribution and demisting systems; a cabin similar to climate control units on automobiles. SP interior structure redesign with a full flat floor; a cockpit update for enhanced man-machine interface; new energy- absorbing seats that improve weight and balance for pas- E-mail your comments to: [email protected] p t e r Photogra p h: Euroco senger loading; integration of a crashworthy fuel tank; and

4 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net

Photograph: IAF NewsWithViews W serviceability in the Mirage fleet was the creation of excel- .25 per10,000hours. least intheIAF’s context—CAT-I accidentrateof roughly (including theoneunderdiscussion), withan enviable—at the fighter fleets of the IAF, having lost only four aircraft also postedoneofthebestflightsafetyrecordsamongst all sions. Butthestorydoesnotendhere. Mirage 2000has sion attackaircraftbothduringdayaswellnightmis - also acquitted itself admirably, as the most capable preci- near 100percent. The aircraft incredible serviceabilitystateof Mirage 2000hadmaintainedan Kargil War in1999, forexample, so. Duringtheentireperiodof operations andcontinuestodo serviceability inallitsyearsof posting consistentlyhighrateof proved tobeaboonfortheIAF, multi-role fighter. Mirage2000 versions of this highly versatile 49 single-seatand10twin-seat cess, theIAFacquiredatotalof its raisingin2004. Inthepro- also locatedatGwaliorsince No. 9Squadron(Wolf Pack), squadrons—the third being on toeventuallyraisethree service in1985, theIAFwent Axes) squadrons. No. 1(Tigers) andNo. 7(Battle 2000 inductionintotheIAF’s silver jubileefunctionsofMirage squadron—to participateinthe ing ex-CommandingOfficerofa ferred ontheseniormostserv- an honourandaprivilegecon- in hiscapacityofbeingthe ‘Commodore Commandant’— ter offact, Air Marshal Anil Chopra hadgonetoGwalior Indian Air Force(IAF), aquarterofcenturyago. As amat- failure in the Mirage 2000 fleet since its induction into the ‘jet’. Incidentally, thishappenstobethefirstcaseofengine engine fighter which eventually resultedinthe loss ofthe 6 VIEWS training flyingmissionwhenthemishapoccurredoffGwalior. The otheroccupantoftheill-fated jet, CommanderRamKumaristhepresentCommandingOfficer(CO)of Wing ‘Tigers’. Bothwereonaroutine Delhi,in New Air Marshal Anil ChoprawasonanofficialtourtoGwaliorairbaseasthe ‘Commodore Commandant’ ofNo.1Squadron(The Tigers). were flyingcrashedafteranengineproblemintheBhindregionofMadhyaPradesh. Postedasthe Air Officer-in-ChargePersonnel(AOP)atIAFHQ On FridayFebruary25, whenthemulti-roleMirage2000twin-seatjetfighterthey anIAFthree-stargeneralandawingcommanderescapedunhurt Mirage 2000crashes,

One ofthemajorconstituents fortheconsistentlyhigh From itsfirstinductioninto SP’S AVIATION be thefailureofpowerplantsingle- dent, preliminaryinvestigationsrevealitto deep toascertaintheexactcauseofacci- hile the Cour

Issue 3•2012 Air MarshalChopraejects t ofInquiry(CofI)willgo least, tilltheFebruary25accident. even inthe ‘uniquely configured’single-enginefighter—at immensely in maintaining an excellentflight safety record dards bythetechnicalcrews. Littlewonder, itcontributed minor ormajor, butalsoensuredstrict ‘quality control’stan- itself. This facilitynotonlyenabledquicksnagrectification, cluded settingupofanenginetestbed(ETB), atthebase of the entire Mirage 2000 fleet since induction—which in- lent logistics/maintenancesupportatGwalior—homebase the ‘Field’. send onlypositivesignalsand amoraleboostingdoseto pened duringtheKargilair operations). These cannotbut operational missions, if thesituationsodemands(asithap- they qualifyforthemission beingflown. And thatincludes desirable for senior officers to fly the fighters, as long as in some sections of the press; it is not only normal but also speculations whichmaybedoingtheroundsnow. In thisparticularcase, anenginesnagreportedlyoc- One lastpoint, contrarytoapprehensionsbeing raised

SP —Air Marshal(Retd) V.K. Bhatia to findthetruthandremoveany upon all aspects of the accident customary, theCofI, willdwell present case. Inanyevent, asis have hadnorelevanceinthe other, the one cited above may occurrence isdifferentfromthe rocal runway. However, asevery recover theaircraftonrecip- turn, thepilotwasabletosafely ing, and carrying out a teardrop base, butwithsomequickthink- after take-offfrom Ambala air large bird-hitintheenginesoon stantial lossofpowerduetoa a Su-7, whichexperienced sub- in thepast, therewasacaseof be recalledthatamongstmany veloping partialthrust?Itmay the aircraftwhileitwasstillde- there apossibilityofrecovering tion to problem solving, but was must havefocusedtheiratten- During thisperiod, thepilots to climbaheightof8,000ft. er, but still enabling the aircraft tially causingpartiallossofpow- curred soonaftertake-off, ini- www.spsaviation.net - Photograph: Boeing NewsWithViews T VIEWS the privatecarriers. sector, itisclearlynotabletocompeteinthemarketagainst ment. Severelyhandicapped withthelegacyofpublic bour disputesandcontinual interferencebythegovern- overstaffed, haslow productivity andisbedevilledbyla- tainty. Being a government-run organisation, Air India is fulfil itsobligationstodebtorswithanydegreeof cer the airlines. Today, theairlineisunabletopaysalariesor there appears to be no perceptible change in the health of exercise atrestructuringwaslauncheda few years agobut loss of` of airline hadaccumulatedadebt pear andbyMarch2011, the financial distress began to ap- 2006-07, symptomsofserious at by 37 per cent and now stands of theDreamlinerhasgone up crore each. Sincethentheprice 2005 carriedapricetagof` deal for27aircraft. signedin line toorderthisaircraft. The ders from57customers. programme hadlogged873or 26, 2011. Bythistime, the787 All Nippon Airways onOctober tered commercialservicewith 2011 andtheDreamlineren- testing wascompletedmid- technologies. However, flight ated withdevelopmentofnew to unforeseenproblemsassoci- project hasbeendelayeddue ter serviceinMay2008, the now hasotherplans. into thenextgeneration. Unfortunatelythenationalcarrier duction oftheaircraftwouldhavehelped Air Indialeapfrog of fuelefficiencycomparedtootheraircraftinitsclass. In- bined withnewgenerationengines, offersahigherdegree composites hasmadetheaircraftmuchlighterandcom- major airlinertoemploythistechnology. Extensiveuseof ` ment, could make Air India richer by haul aircraft, whichwillattractasubstantialpremium, overthecostquotedin2005. The profitsfromthesale, iffinallyapprovedbythegovern- Air IndiamayselltheBoeing787Dreamlinersatapremiumtocutlosses. The Civil Aviation Ministryisdiscussingaproposaltosellthe27medium Air Indiamay sellitsDreamliners three years, Dreamlinersthisyear. Boeingisexpectedtodeliverseven Ifittakesdeliveryandsellsallthe27planes, itwouldmakeaprofitof 7,200 croreoveracoupleofyears, dependingonthedeliveryschedule. ` Air Indiawasthesecondair Originally scheduledtoen- ` 42,570 croreandoperating 970 croreapiece. Around largely ofcompositematerialsandistheworld’s first ing from210to290passengers. Itsairframeismade long-range, wide-bodyjetlinerwithacapacityrang- he Boeing787Dreamleristwin-engine, 22,000 crore. A major 703 - - ` 7,200 crore, equivalent to a third of its accumulated losses pegged at - global scene. ­business modelbutalsothe imageoftheairlineon ­operating costtoimprove notonlytheviabilityofits duct theairlinerandexploit itsfuelefficiencyandlow restoration offinancialhealththeairline. for thesakeofheftyprofitmaynotbebestoption for has tosurvive. As fordumpingthedealDreamliner to setitshouseinorderandexploredisinvestment if it was thebest;butgivenfinancialmessinairline, it options toexitthedealforaircraftthatundoubtedly liner, themanagementofairlineexploreddifferent ( high priority. Apart fromaclaimonBoeingfor$1billion ing waystoreducethesizeofcumulativelossattained pay forthe27Boeing787onorder. For Air India, find- dened bydebt, theairlinedidnothaveresourcesto Civil Aviation, disclosed that as Air India was over-bur `5000 crore)forthedelayindeliveryofDream- Perhaps itwouldbemore expedienttoactuallyin- In September 2011, Vayalar Ravi, the then Minister of

SP Issue 3•2012 —Air Marshal(Retd)B.K. Pandey is moreimportantfor Air India 18. Butinthefinalanalysis, it Hyderabad fromMarch14to livery atIndia Aviation 2012at cased inthenationalcarriers nificantly, isgoingtobeshow- to be inducted and more sig- time whentheaircraftisabout waited forsevenyearsandata exit fromthedealafterhaving ing forwardwithitsplanto never anoption. Cancellation oftheorderwas will proceedwithfurthersteps. clearance bythegovernment, fleet inquestionandafterfinal and-leaseback optionforthe India’s boardapprovedasale- wide bodyDreamliners. craft inplaceofthetwin-aisle to singleaislenarrowbodyair other wastochangetheorder der from 27 to 12aircraft. The to cut down the size of the or of theoptionsevaluatedwas had become unaffordable. One ` 20,000 crore. After a delay of over Ironically, Air Indiaismov- On November30, 2011, Air

SP’S AVIATION 7 - - - Photograph: Sp guide pubns InFocus P carrier’s revenue inflows, have beenseized. top itall, itsbankaccounts, which receive the chargescritical suchaslanding fees andfuel. To essentially ona ‘cash-and-carry’ systemfor of itsfinancialobligations, andisoperating At thispoint, Kingfisher has defaulted onmost 8 The Airlines over potentialsafetyviolations inthefaceofKingfisher’s authority DGCA toohascontinuedtorepeatitsconcerns dues, including TDS onthe employee’s salaries. Income Tax Department fornon-paymentofoutstandingtax receive thecarrier’s revenueinflows, havebeenseizedbythe as landingfeesandfuel. To topitall, itsbankaccounts, which tially on a ‘cash-and-carry’ systemforcriticalcharges such on mostofitsfinancialobligations, andisoperating essen- per centofrevenues. At thispoint, Kingfisherhasdefaulted in debtwithinterestpaymentsnowatanastronomical 25 fact thatKingfisherismorethan`7,000crore($1.4billion) twice thecurrentsize. Adding tothemountingwoesis contracts enteredintowhenitsoperationsweremorethan er’s cashflow, makingitdifficultforthecarrierto payforthe Because thedecline in revenues hasfurther eroded Kingfish- step hasactuallyputtheairlineinaCatch-22likesituation. instead ofprovidingcertainamountfinancialrelief, this flights perday(versus340atthesametimelastyear). But forced to shrink its operations at a rapid pace, down to 175 cial crisisinNovemberlastyear. Sincethen, Kingfisherwas with lessorssincetheairlinefirstenteredintoastateoffinan- sue fortheKingfisher, whichhasbeencontinuallygrappling overdue leasepaymentson10 ATR 72-500aircraft. owes $21.6million(` from theUKHighCourtclaimsthatembattledairline from offshorefinancialestablishmentsaswell. A newreport domestically, moredamningevidenceisemerging;thistime already severefinancialcrisistheairlineispassingthough Kingfisher istakingatollonitsonceproudowner. Amidst an Clearly, thedirefinancialpositionofDrMallya’s petairline man havebeenreplacedbybewildermentandasternscowl. lant attitudeandtheconfidentsmileofasuccessfulbusiness- Feeling

To compounditsproblems, India’s aviationregulatory The above-mentionedrepresentonlythelatestcreditis- SP’S AVIATION but thesedays, withadifference. The usualnoncha- customed regularityintheleadingnationaldailies; coon Dr Vijay Mallya continue to appear with the ac- hotographs of Sinkng

108 crore) to the Bank of Scotland for 108 crore)totheBankofScotlandfor Issue 3•2012 the mediasavvybusinessty- done; turntoForumforanalytical commentsandviews. order inthecivilaviationsector? And, for whatneedstobe government policiesresponsible forthecurrentfinancialdis- Kingfisher alone or are these widespread? How far are the bailout package? Then, are thefinancialtroublesconfinedto it be correctforthegovernmenttohelp the carrier with a financial messandmakeiteconomicallyviableagain? Would lines? Will Mallyabeabletobringtheairlineoutofitscurrent in storeforthe—atleastcrumblingnow—Kingfisher Air tempt tosalvagehispetbusinessendeavour, whatexactlyis have patiencewhileheworkstourgentlyresolvethisissue. the non-paymentofsalaries, atthesametimeasking themto in Kingfisher Airlines expressinghisdeeppersonalsorrowfor man Mallyatookuponhimselftowritepersonallyhisflock a temporary shutdown. To soothe theirfraying nerves, Chair tional note, the Kingfisher management reportedly threatened tions toeventhereduced-scaleoperations. Ona confronta- Pilots arealsoreportingsickindroveswithcripplingdisrup- months despiteseveralpromisesmadebythemanagement. in protestagainstnon-paymentofsalariesforthepastthree remained with the company recently refusedto operate flights both air as well as ground crews. Some of the pilots who have ployees’ salaries has led to a substantialexodusof the staff— per centdropinthestocksofcompany. dropping to11.3percentaccompaniedbymorethana13.5 sulted inacascadingeffectwiththeairline’s marketshare The dismal scenario thatKingfisherfinds itself in has re- shutting downmostinternational short-haul operations. This ledtolargescalecancellationsofflightswiththeairline strength, onlyabout22wereoperationalbyFebruaryend. to reliablesources, outofthe64aircraftoncarrier’s view ofthemaintenancecrews’recentstrike. According and thesituationifanythingislikelytoworsenfurtherin three Kingfisher A320s owingtomaintenance/safetyissues ­financial difficulties. The regulator has already deregistered But whileMallyamaymaintainabravefrontinhisat- The downslidedoesnotstopthere. Non-paymentofem-

—Air Marshal(Retd) V.K. Bhatia www.spsaviation.net

SP - - Airlines Forum Gasping for Funds Kingfisher is just an example to show that the situation for practically all airlines in India has reached a tipping point. The private carriers have little hope for survival in the long run unless the government sheds its indifference towards their financial plight and undertakes a comprehensive review of its policies.

ingfisher Airlines was established the Skytrax award for India’s best airline of the year 2011. in 2003 by Dr Vijay Mallya, head of the highly The very brand name ‘Kingfisher’ began to be associated successful Bangalore-based United Breweries with its motto ‘Fly the Good Times’ as the airline not only (UB) Group. The airline started commercial ensured comfortable travel for its ‘guests’ but also spoiled operations in 2005 with a fleet of four new them with ‘goodies’ and many ‘extras’. Airbus A320-200s aircraft. This was heady The last decade also saw a large number of private play- time in the Indian civil aviation scenario, with fantastic ers coming into the low-cost segment of the airlines busi- Kgrowth forecasts luring a large number of private players ness. This model was pioneered by Captain G.R. Gopinath to join the fray as also take advantage of the government’s with the launching of Air Deccan in August 2003—a ‘low- ‘Open Sky’ policy. Backed by the financial clout of its par- cost carrier’ (LCC) concept, also known as the common ent—the UB Group, Kingfisher Airlines quickly expanded man’s airline. The initial success of Air Deccan prompted its fleet size and operations to become the second largest three new LCCs—IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir—to emerge on private airline after Jet Airways which incidentally had a the scene soon after and which proved to be highly success- 10-year lead on Kingfisher. True to his own flamboyant and ful. Not to be left out of this lucrative segment and following effervescent lifestyle, Mallya did not want anything but the a simpler merger route, the leading private airline Jet Air- best for his airline too. ‘The King of the Good Times’ Mallya ways acquired the financially troubled Air Sahara, rechris- wanted Kingfisher passengers—–nay, his guests—to ‘Fly the tening it JetLite as the low-cost arm of the full service carrier Good Times’. Kingfisher Airlines was to be a ‘full service car- Jet. Competing neck-on-neck with its bigger rival ‘Jet’, King- rier’ (FSC) and more. He ordered fisher surreptitiously roped in and the best of the airplanes and pro- later bought out Air Deccan to op- vided special travel experience to erate as its low-cost model under his guests with better and more the Kingfisher brand as Kingfisher comfortable seats and superb in- Red. The national public carrier Air flight service with a personal eye India and Indian (Indian Airlines), for details. When operations began on the other hand, went on a su- in 2005, his was the first airline in per merger route along with their India to provide in-flight entertain- subsidiaries Air India Express and ment (IFE) system on every seat Alliance Air, respectively. even on all its domestic flights. In In hindsight, it is clear that the a short span of time after start- airlines which adopted the ‘mixed’ ing operations, Kingfisher Airlines (FSC+LCC) models were unable to was able to create a unique brand profitably run the business under name for itself, grabbing a ma- the same management. Air India’s jor chunk of the ‘full service’ seg- financial nosedive is well known ment in India’s airline industry. by now but the carrier continues to Kingfisher became one of the only be supported by the public money seven airlines worldwide to be doled out periodically by the Cen- awarded five-star rating by Sky- tral Government. While Jet Air-

i on: A noop Kamath Illustrat trax. More recently, it also bagged ways managed to contain its losses,

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 9 Airlines it was the Kingfisher which ran deep That the ‘King India entails service tax of 12.36 per into ‘red’. The dichotomy and the con- cent as compared to zero tax over-

Forum flict between the two approaches was of the Good seas with spare parts attracting cus- felt most acutely by none other than tom duties of 25.4 per cent. ‘Kingfisher’ but by the time it decided Times’ is sinking Clearly, there is an urgent need to shed the LCC segment (Kingfisher into ‘bad times’ for the government to create an in- Red) of its airline business towards dustry-friendly and financially prag- the end of last year, it had probably is evident from matic environment. First and fore- reached the ‘point of no return’ in its the never ending most, the government should get over dangerous journey to financial ruin. the bogey of ‘security risks’ and allow That the ‘King of the Good Times’ financial blows it foreign airlines to enter the Indian is sinking into ‘bad times’ is evident is being subjected market. The Confederation of Indian from the never ending financial blows Industry (CII) in a statement said, it is being subjected to by its credi- to by its creditors “A liberal FDI regime would pave tors and suppliers. Already staring at and suppliers the way for foreign airlines to par- a possibly terminal financial illness, ticipate in India’s aviation sector and it suffered another blow on March strengthen it.” Suggesting that the 7 when the International Air Trans- government liberalise the FDI policy port Association (IATA) ordered over to allow foreign airlines to invest up 30,000 of its affiliated travel agents to to 49 per cent in cash-starved domes- stop booking tickets for the airline over its failure to settle tic air carriers, it reiterated, “A comprehensive policy direc- outstanding dues since February—a move akin to the Re- tion is needed to address the prevailing crisis and lay a path serve Bank of India (RBI) removing a commercial bank from for future growth.” its currency clearing system. This has happened at a time Then there is the issue of ATF prices in India which when all bank accounts of the airline have already been fro- are amongst the highest in the world. The Indian Govern- zen by the Income Tax Department for non-payment of tax ment’s recent policy decision to allow direct import of ATF dues and the airline is reduced to whatever operations it can from abroad by the Indian carriers though a welcome step muster on strictly ‘cash-and-carry’ basis. is still full of pitfalls as the domestic carriers would have The big question is why an astute businessman of the to go through the hassles of creating storage and refuelling calibre of Dr Mallya would allow his airline to sink so low. facilities. These would greatly eat into the gains of imported Was it reckless expansion without consolidation? Was it over fuel. What is really needed for the government is to ration- ambition? Was it disregard of the normal financial practic- alise the ATF prices to bring these close to the international es? Or, was it a mixture of all? It is true that Dr Mallya went norms as also, standardise them throughout the country by headlong into the aviation business thinking that he would making the sales tax on ATF specific instead of ad-valorem. conquer it in the same manner as his other liquor business A similar kind of treatment is needed to give boost to the at which he had succeeded as if he had the ‘Midas’ touch. MRO sector within the country. Giving deemed export status He even named his airline after the highly popular and best- to the MRO business in India and allocation of land for han- selling Kingfisher beer from the United Breweries of which gars at airports would greatly help in promoting this sector he is the Chairman and Managing Director. He wanted the and cutting down maintenance costs. Creation of a regula- best for his airline too, no matter what the costs. And as it tory body is also recommended for the air transport sec- stands today, he paid a heavy price for it. tor. The regulator’s role and responsibilities could include But is he alone to be blamed for the financial impasse promotion of healthy competition in the aviation sector, in that Kingfisher Airlines finds itself in? At the turn of the addition to air safety, airspace regulation and consumer century, India was awash with prophesies of one of the protection while also putting in place a mechanism to stop highest in the world growth stories in the civil aviation predatory pricing in air fares. sector. With an average annual growth rate hovering Kingfisher is just an example to show that the situation around 10 per cent for passenger traffic in the civil avia- for practically all airlines in India has reached a tipping tion sector, the story remains intact. But even then, the point. The private carriers have little hope for survival in entire sector is facing the heat of financial distress. While the long run unless the government sheds its indifference Kingfisher has never been out of the red since its inception towards their financial plight and undertakes a compre- in 2005, the other airlines are also struggling for survival hensive review of its policies on the lines suggested above, thanks to many lopsided policies adopted by the govern- towards this vital sector of the nation’s economy. While, con- ment. Inadequacies in the civil aviation infrastructure and trary to certain statements by Corporate Affairs Minister M. high cost of operations have contributed vastly to the civil Veerappa Moily that “Kingfisher Airlines has to be saved” air operators’ woes. High and continuously rising cost of and the government would “go up to the last point” to prop aviation turbine fuel (ATF) with taxes as much as 30 per it up, no one is suggesting that the government pay the tax- cent in some states, exorbitant airport charges and bar on payer’s money to bailout private airlines. But, it should also investment by foreign airlines, not to speak of over capac- take a serious call whether or not it should provide a ‘level’ ity and depressed fares due to fierce competition has left playing field in the civil aviation sector by treating all opera- the airlines gasping for air. The maintenance, repair and tors — public or private — with the same yardstick. SP overhaul (MRO) scene is no better. Servicing an aircraft in — Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia

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Beechcraft King Air 350_SP_Aviation.indd 1 1/19/12 4:53 PM Civil Business Aviation

Untapped Asset From being just a ‘jewel’ in the corporate crown, business aviation has the untapped potential of being a force multiplier and a game changer as well

or over five de- By S.R. Swarup, profitably interweave it into corporate cades, business aviation management, a figure of `5,000 crore has been a prominent sig- Mumbai ($1 billion) would make a good start- nature on the corporate ing point. However, it is imperative for radar in India becoming organisations to carry out a cost-bene- an integral part of their fit analysis before planning for the ac- corporate structure. However, busi- quisition of aviation assets. The nature Fness aviation still remains largely a and size of the enterprise in terms of ‘status symbol’ or merely a ‘speedy mode of transportation’ turnover would not only dictate, but also have a significant for the corporate top brass. The true strength of aviation and impact on the type and number of aircraft to be inducted. its potential to influence outcomes is yet to be understood. As it is with every decision-making process, a clear in- From being just a ‘jewel’ in the corporate crown, business tent and purpose for acquisition of air assets is important aviation has the untapped potential of being a force multiplier followed by the selection and maintenance of the aim. If the and a game changer as well. Unfortunately, such perceptions purpose is the symbolic representation of power, image or amongst corporate aviators have been totally lacking. Avia- brand projection; then ‘the bigger the better’ should be the tion continues to languish in the columns of ‘cost additions’ guiding principle. This strategy transformed the image of on the balance sheet while the aspect of ‘value addition’ re- ‘Sahara’ from that of a little known banking entity to a lead- mains ignored. Only with the discovery of the true potential ing corporate giant. However, if the purpose is to optimise of business aviation, its role in corporate management, and the deployment as an important tool of management, read its ability to influence decisions and impact the balance sheet, on the following paragraphs. will business aviation be appreciated as an asset. Range of aircraft is the definition and manifestation of the strategic corporate vision, intent and dreams of the leader- Selection of Aircraft ship. Unfortunately, the significance of range in the choice of Business aviation entails high capital investment and recur- aircraft has been lost in most cases. If the long-term interests ring cost. Like enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions in lie within the boundaries of the subcontinent, then aircraft the industry, a minimum size in terms of turnover is manda- with a range of about 3,500 nautical miles would suffice. tory to even begin envisaging the acquisition of aviation as- However, if the leadership nurses global visions, then any- sets. For a manufacturing concern to fruitfully employ ERP thing with a range less than 6,500 nautical miles could be a solutions, an estimated figure of `150 crore ($30 million) is serious handicap. This could translate into one or more refu-

Photogra p h: S guide ubn s quoted authoritatively. Similarly, to employ aviation and to elling halts, transgression of flight duty time limits of the air-

12 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Civil Business Aviation crew, longer flights, passenger fatigue and lost deals. In most quarters, airfield elevation and the availability of infrastruc- cases, range has been ignored, turning precious investment ture to support aircraft operations could dictate the choice into mere showpiece instead of vehicles of change. of aircraft. Often the higher echelons of an organisation are The involvement of the leadership is all-important in de- located in metros with modern airfields while the produc- liberating on the critical issue of seating capacity. Imagine tion units may be located in remote areas with limited field going for a ‘merger and acquisition’ deal and having to leave length, poor radio aids and inhospitable terrain. This may behind the Chief Financial Officer just because the seating necessitate aircraft capable of short-field operations. capacity does not permit an extra passenger. Exploiting the Potential Basing of Air Assets Adequate attention also needs to be paid to the availability of The air assets need to be strategically located so as to be trained manpower for the efficient operation of the aircraft. easily and quickly accessible without operational or admin- Companies often end up paying disproportionately high sala- istrative constraints. This is the key to maximising profit- ries to their air and maintenance crew only due to their indis- ability. A point often missed is that aircraft standing in hot pensability. Pilot employed by a leading business house operat- and dry locations have a longer shelf-life than those parked ing a corporate jet draws salaries higher than that of an airline under conditions of high humidity such as in Mumbai. And commander. The aircraft will be grounded if the only pilot on a hangar to house the aircraft can add years and save mil- their payroll decides to quit. It is certainly a demand and sup- lions in maintenance costs. Amongst the several important ply anomaly but one that could have been foreseen and obvi- considerations for locating corporate aviation assets are ated. Consequently, there is mismatch between investment and proximity to headquarters, length of the runway and watch benefits derived. hours at departure airfield, housing the aircrew, availability An aircraft in the corporate environment is not just a of maintenance and refuelling facilities, mode of conveyance but a potent weapon immigration/custom facilities and radio/ to be intelligently employed. Its potency navigation aids to permit all weather op- is a function of the equipment carried erations. Poor choice of location could be onboard. Imagine a 12-hour flight across a cause for regret later. Today, there the globe and the head of a $70 billion Availability of maintenance facilities are players (`3,50,000 crore) company wanting to at or near the location could be a major send a critically important business mail factor in the choice of aircraft. There are offering or fax while in-flight, but is unable to do original equipment manufacturers (OEM) aircraft with so due to lack of connectivity. An asset can who offer convenient annual mainte- thus turn into a liability, a deal lost and nance contracts along with round-the- over 99 per an opportunity missed. The aircraft may clock assistance apart from supporting cent dispatch need to divert because it does not have hubs for the speedy shipment of spares. the latest landing aids or the software Such manufacturers are quick to under- reliability upgrade that was abandoned because stand the need of the owners and respond it cost $3,00,000 (`1.5 crore). It makes efficiently, often in real time. A display of sense to equip the aircraft with suitable the understanding of the requirements accessories in order to give the corporate of clients could easily steer the choice of leadership a wide range of options and aircraft. Prolonged periods of inactivity greater flexibility in decision-making. are common in a corporate environment After all, it is about the shareholders in- making equipment reliability and speedy response to be im- terests, and that needs to be paramount in planning for an portant considerations. aircraft acquisition. Adequate thought needs to be given to the aspect of logis- Integration of aviation assets into a corporate environ- tical support for maintenance operations. With the manufac- ment is not a dimensionless step. As the costs involved are turer situated at a distance and no hub in the vicinity, help may huge, a ‘risk versus return’ analysis needs to be carried out. be late in coming in case of unserviceability. Most of the OEMs The resource allocation needs to be justified by the benefits have their hubs to serve the markets they have developed and likely to accrue. A desirable step would be to induct an avia- areas where they sense potential. It would be operationally tion expert who can provide guidance to ensure that avia- and financially beneficial to take this factor into consideration tion act as a catalyst in decision-making. A competent avia- while assessing the suitability of a particular aircraft. tion advisor can introduce the management to the concept Dispatch reliability has gained significance in the cor- of ‘expansion of time’. By intelligent planning of take-off and porate environment because there usually is no alternative. landing timings, a corporate manager can finish business There are no standby arrangements, no aircraft to canni- in London, fly to India and continue with his work, thereby balise spares from and often no other means of transport adding more business hours to his 24-hour day which trans- within easy reach. So, often ‘dispatch reliability’ steals a lates into higher dividends that only aviation can provide. march over appearance, lower cost and higher speeds. To- Finally, the strength of aviation lies in its flexibility. Man- day, there are players offering aircraft with over 99 per cent agements need to frequently revisit this domain and modify dispatch reliability. their resource infrastructure and even trim it if so warranted. A crucial point is the geographical layout of the corporate After all, the aim of business is to make money and prosper- assets. Distance of production units from corporate head- ity in business will lead to growth in corporate aviation. SP

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 13 Civil Regional Aviation Awaiting Revolutiona

solutions available: Embraer E-170

CAPA believes that the regional aviation market is under-penetrated and the demand is growing at nearly twice the rate of the metros

olicy makers, avia- By Group Captain (Retd) airlines deep into the red. But why tion professionals have the carriers been so aggressive and ordinary passengers Joseph Noronha in increasing capacity? Why are they alike now realise that engaged in suicidal competition on something is badly wrong the metro routes, rather than seek- with commercial avia- ing new horizons? tion in India. An industry that has Pconsistently notched up double-digit Meeting Regional Needs growth rates for several years, and is forecast to continue Scheduled flights in India now number close to 15,000 de- on a high-growth path for many more years, should be the partures per week. However, the benefits of aviation connec- toast of the global airline business. Sadly, this impressive tivity are unevenly distributed, leaving the vast majority of performance has failed to bring prosperity. All major car- the country’s population untouched. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar riers, with the possible exception of IndiGo, are believed to which have almost a fourth of India’s population are report- be loss-making. While Air India and Kingfisher Airlines are edly served by just 2.9 per cent of scheduled flights. On the in dire straits; Jet Airways and SpiceJet are not far behind. other end of the scale, Delhi and Maharashtra claim the lion’s A variety of factors are responsible for the plight of the share of 37.3 per cent of flights, even though they comprise sector. No doubt inadequate infrastructure, a huge and un- just 10.3 per cent of the total population. That is why Spice- predictable fuel bill, the global economic downturn and Jet, realising that a large nascent market exists in the poorly the fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar may be served regions, last October, decided to strategically focus on blamed. Add to that the insatiable expectations of trained improving air connectivity to Tier-II and Tier-III cities. aviation staff and rising input costs—on maintenance, air- But a key requirement for the spread of aviation to the port charges and baggage handling. The high cost of capi- remote expanses of India is infrastructure. Unless aviation

Photogra p hs: Embra e r & ATR tal and high interest rates have also conspired to drag the facilities are upgraded in a hurry, there’s likely to be only

14 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Civil Regional Aviation

patchy progress. The country currently has 127 airports, power requirement for each flight is similar to that of the with just 87 operational, a clearly inadequate figure for a FSCs. In addition, the LCCs’ booking system is not entirely huge nation and large population. That’s not the whole sto- Internet based, so they need booking counters with addi- ry, since barely 36 airports accept narrow-body jets like the tional staff, which raises costs. The LCCs operate on crowded Boeing B737-800 (189 economy passengers) or Airbus A320 inter-metro routes, rather than protecting themselves from (180 economy passengers). SpiceJet’s choice of the Bombar- heavy competition by opening up regional routes. And they dier Q400 NextGen (maximum 80 seats) for regional routes pay the same airport charges as the FSCs since there are no Awaiting makes good sense. The carrier believes that this economical low-cost airports. Indeed, the LCCs claim that high airport a and fuel-efficient turboprop aircraft is best suited to the fa- charges are killing them. Low-cost airports with reasonable cilities at many of the smaller airports—short runways and charges may be just what the doctor ordered. Such airports basic services. SpiceJet’s flights, mainly in the South, report- have minimal infrastructure—a runway, simple terminal fa- edly achieve consistent seat load factors of over 80 per cent cilities and navigational aids—and offer only basic services. at economical fares. The carrier is considering an additional They could bring huge savings for the airlines. However, to Revolution order for Q400s to help balance the losses experienced on its be economically viable they would need to generate high mainline routes. Other popular regional options include small levels of non-aeronautical revenue. jets like the Bombardier CRJ700 (maximum 78 seats) and the Embraer E-170 (maximum 80 seats). However, with fuel A Helping Hand prices way above comfort levels, turboprops like the ATR 72- CAPA believes that the regional aviation market is under-pen- 500 (maximum 78 seats) and the Bombardier Q400 NextGen etrated and the demand is growing at nearly twice the rate are garnering greater market share. A requirement is also of the metros. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) expects likely to emerge for small aircraft with 15-20 seats and up to traffic from non-metro airports to rise to 45 per cent of the total air traffic in the next five years, up from 30 per cent at present. The scheduled airlines are forecast to add almost 400 aircraft to their fleets over the same period. Where will so many aircraft be deployed? Many LCCs around the world have proved that success lies not in engaging in a bloody bat- tle for market share with major carriers on mainline routes, but in opening up services to new destinations. The role of the government is also crucial. The regional airline policy introduced in August 2007 has proved a dismal failure—not a single regional airline is operative, although other airlines have stepped in. Clearly, the policy needs an overhaul. There’s a worthwhile proposal by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to establish a Regional Air Connectivity Fund to subsidise airlines operating on regional routes and to help airport operators establish requisite infrastructure for small airports in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. The government’s route dispersal guidelines that force unwilling airlines into unviable routes have also met with mixed success. A better way to encourage connectivity may be to exempt the first airline that connects cities not linked by air from navigation and airport charges for the first year of operation. Some state governments also can be more enthusiastic ATR 72-500: IT has a maximum of 78 seats about establishing airports, providing aviation infrastructure and reducing input costs. The least that governments can do 45-50 seats, to pioneer new routes till the market matures. immediately is to reduce the sales tax on ATF. States also need Aircraft with up to 80 seats are exempt from airport landing to be proactive in guaranteeing a percentage of seats on each and parking charges and billed at reduced rates for naviga- new flight, at least for the first couple of years, until load factors tion facilities. Those with take-off weight less than 40,000 kg rise and the route becomes commercially viable. also pay just four per cent sales tax on aviation turbine fuel Perhaps 200 cities and towns across India are rapidly (ATF) across the country, whereas larger aircraft are billed transforming into industrial and economic powerhouses up to 27 per cent in some states. ATF amounts to 45 per cent with adequate population to support regular air connectiv- or more of an airline’s operating cost, so this is a major gain. ity. It’s time the airlines, especially the LCCs, recognise that Indeed, regional aviation in India can succeed only if based the future lies in such small cities rather than in the severely on the low-cost carrier (LCC) model. congested metro airports. The future belongs to small, no- LCC penetration in India has almost doubled over the frills airports: A determined strategy to create a couple of past five years and accounted for 70 per cent of the domestic hundred low-cost airports can help take aviation to the re- market in December 2011, according to the Centre for Asia mote regions of India and trigger a revolution in the avia- Pacific Aviation (CAPA). But all LCCs except IndiGo are oper- tion industry. The airline sector as it exists today caters to ating at a loss. Why? The LCCs are hurt by the high cost of perhaps two per cent of Indians who fly domestically each ATF as much as the full service carriers (FSCs). Their man- year. What about the other 98 per cent? SP

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 15 Civil FBO The Dire Need

is this enough? LSg Sky chefs

General aviation operators tend to be small in size—some of them operating a single or maybe two aircraft. It is not possible for them to have facilities at any place except their own base and hence the need for FBOs. However, the current volume of general aviation traffic is not adequate for a large number of FBOs to thrive.

istorically speak- By Group Captain (Retd) structured type of service provider ing, the term fixed- firmly entrenched in one place (and base operator (FBO) A.K. Sachdev thus the term fixed based operator). originated in the US Perhaps there was another need to and dates back to 1926. have a ‘fixed’ support system—the During the years follow- increasing complexity of the nature ing World War I, aviation had caught of the support required. Since then Hthe popular fancy and many adventur- the concept has consolidated in the ous pilots moved around the country, US into a fairly well defined and un- entertaining appreciative crowds with barnstorming stunts. derstood one. The Federal Aviation Authority defines it as “A The US Air Commerce Act of 1926 served to distinguish be- commercial business granted the right by the airport spon- tween mobile support teams that travelled along with the sor to operate on an airport and provide aeronautical ser-

Photogra p h: LS G Sky chef s show aircraft from one venue to another, and the more vices such as fuelling, hangarage, tie-down and parking, air-

16 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Civil FBO craft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, etc.” As carrying out self-handling, the manpower released by them is evident from the above, the concept is predicated to con- as redundant is promptly recruited by the monopolistic tinually mobile operations wherein aircraft from an opera- FBO. Most general aviation operators feel that the thrusting tor frequently move out from their base for operations—thus of a single FBO down their unwilling throats at exorbitant requiring support from the station they move to. Scheduled rates runs contrary to not only the spirit of Competition Act airlines would have their own support systems at all the sta- 2002 (which replaced the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade tions they operate to and thus the FBO concept is applicable Practices Act 1969 in 2009) but also in letter. The Airport to general aviation aircraft only. The US currently has 5,245 Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) Act of 2008 and listed FBOs for the 20,000 airports across the nation. the consequent establishment of an authority (AERA) for In contrast to the defined version of the FBO in the US, in the purpose of regulating economic activities at airports is India, the understanding on the term is a bit obfuscated. Under an inadequate act—limited in scope and applicability. The the tab “operators” in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation AERA has so far not proved to be of any help to aircraft (DGCA) site, the term does not find a place while in usage it operators inasmuchas their plaintive cries about the ground conveys different things to different groups. Loosely speaking, handling policies at metros being monopolistic (or oligopo- any service provider or vendor offering one or more services listic) have gone unheeded. or products e.g. refuelling, ground handling, passenger and/ While the FBO concept is well entrenched in the US and to or cargo handling, engineering support, flight clearances, cus- a lesser extent in Europe, it is in its infancy in Asia—commen- toms and immigration facilitation, lounge facility, transporta- surate with the lower levels of Asian general aviation (includ- tion and so on at an airport is referred to as an FBO. This is in ing private and business aviation). Hong Kong, Macau, Sin- contrast to the ‘omnibus’ concept of FBO wherein one single gapore, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai have some FBOs while operator provides all support to a visiting or transiting aircraft. India has no service provider actually deserving the title of So, is there a need for FBOs in India? FBO. Those few companies that do provide services and prod- The simple, one word answer to that question is “yes”. ucts at airports offer some piecemeal services; perhaps the However, there is a need to qualify that affirmative with only advantage they offer is that they do so on credit basis. some explanations. In June 2010, Shaurya Aviation Private What is desirable is that FBOs come up at most airports Limited (SAPL) was designated as the FBO for Delhi airport; to serve all the needs of general aviation aircraft operating there was immediate apprehension amongst the general away from their main bases. On offer could be aircraft fuel aviation operators that a full scale FBO model (maintenance, services, parking, hangar storage, maintenance specific to ground handling, passenger handling, etc) would be thrust type of aircraft, toilet cleaning, water replenishment, tow- down their throats by SAPL. This did not come up due to ing, passenger and baggage handling, cargo services, wait- strong resistance from the general aviation operators but ing lounges, conference facilities and other sundry services. the dispensation that did result from the SAPL designation Larger and better equipped FBOs could additionally offer was also not a very happy situation for them. The reason food vending/restaurant facilities, ground transportation ar- was that as SAPL now had a monopoly over the general rangement (car lending, taxi/limousine, shuttle van, on-site aviation facility; no general aviation departure could take car rental), flight planning and weather information areas place without having to transit through the general aviation (computer or telephone based), pilot/crew rest lounges and lounge, and the rates for the handling and nominal usage of showers, aviation supplies shop (selling navigation charts, facilities were prohibitive. After some downward movement manuals, or in-flight comfort items), access to in-flight cater- in the rates originally announced, general aviation opera- ing, and accommodations reservations/concierge services tors unwillingly accepted the regime. Since then similar fa- for both crew and passengers. cilities have come up in other stations with the notable one General aviation operators tend to be small in size— being in Mumbai. At no station, how- some of them operating a single or maybe ever, is the general operator commu- two aircraft. It is not possible for them to nity satisfied with the high costs es- have facilities at any place except their own pecially because some of the services base and hence the need for FBOs. How- provided by FBOs are not essentially The need ever, as far as the general aviation operator the needed ones. for FBOs is concerned, cost would be the deciding Do the general aviation operators factor. As mentioned earlier, the so-called in India need FBOs? Most operators continues to FBOs in India have been monopolistic, ex- would respond in the negative. The exist without pensive, no-alternative options imposed reason for this unpopularity of the upon the operators. Should a competitive FBO concept in India is the fact that the currently regime be put into place—with several FBO it is not in response to the demands options at each (or at least the metro air- of the aircraft operators that these existing FBOs ports), the affordable costs would render FBOs have come up but as a result satisfying them as attractive options for operators. of airport operators’ predatory dis- However, the current volume of general position. The ostensible reason given their general aviation traffic is not adequate for a large by airport operators is security con- aviation users number of FBOs to thrive. Meanwhile, the cerns but this argument is defeated need for FBOs continues to exist without by the fact that wherever general the currently existing FBOs satisfying their aviation operators are stopped from general aviation users. SP

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 17 Civil Industry Are you Ready?

‘Now’s the best time for India’s carriers to learn what has worked and what hasn’t worked around the world’

he continued turmoil within India’s commer- potential in India. Just look at what’s happening in Brazil, cial airline industry frustrates Alex Glock as he pores China, Central Asia and Russia.” With 75 per cent of all ASKs over the statistics in the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s touching Mumbai or New Delhi, the Indian domestic net- (MoCA) Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17). “If ever there work is pure hub-and-spoke. But is this simply a function of Twas a time for someone to seize an opportunity for smaller- population distribution, true market demand and econom- capacity jets, it’s now,” espouses the 44-year-old Vice President ics? Is India fundamentally different from other countries of Embraer’s Asia Pacific Commercial Aviation division. “The with large populations and huge geography? dire straits of Kingfisher and Air India are a clear indication “Absolutely not,” says Glock. “Azul Airlines in Brazil will that the country’s airline industry is still shaking out after its have nearly 60 E-Jets in operation by the end of this year costly experiment with market liberalisation.” and has ordered another 24. By using smaller-capacity air- Glock’s views are rooted in an aviation career with the craft and flying to lower-cost, less-congested secondary air- Brazilian aircraft manufacturer in which he has seen the ports and rejecting the entire hub-and-spoke business mod- troubles of India’s airlines play out with other carriers around el, it’s tapped into a whole new category of price-sensitive the world. “I had hoped that in India, managers would have traveller. People who could only afford to take the bus are learned from the mistakes of those who are now piled on the now flying, and not just once a year. What happened in Bra- giant scrap heap of failed airlines.” Glock is an ardent believer zil is the kind of thing that is the basis of Harvard Business that the family of 70- to 120-seat E-Jets is right for India. School case studies.” Glock also cites the E-Jets acquisitions The total number of non-stop city pairs flown by all com- of China Southern and Hebei Airlines to open the vast, min- mercial carriers has not increased since 2007. “Five years eral rich provinces of western China with their new planes. and no growth, what does that tell you?” Glock asks. De- “Big jets won’t work there. Those airlines and the Civil Avia- spite the presence of six major airlines and a robust delivery tion Authority of China recognised that 100-seat jets are the stream of new narrow body and turboprop aircraft, opera- best solution for secondary markets. The provincial econo- tors are not opening new routes. “Everyone is flying on top mies and passenger enplanements are skyrocketing.” of each other, all wanting a piece of the pie. But it’s just not How does this relate to India? According to Embraer’s big enough to profitably sustain so many, chasing so few own forecast, some 60 city pairs that do not have non-stop passengers at such low fares. I’ve said this so many times air service today will have sufficient passenger volumes by that I’m starting to sound like a broken record.” 2016 to support the first non-stop flights with regional jets Airline capacity is, indeed, highly concentrated. In 2010, of at least 70 seats. More than half of those routes are me- the top five business routes accounted for about 34 per cent dium or long-range, averaging 1,325 kilometres, and most of all domestic available seat kilometres while nearly half (48 of those will link one of the country’s metro airports with per cent) of all capacity was allocated on just 10 city pairs. secondary cities. In the next four years, Embraer has identi- As Embraer sees it, Indian carriers are locked in a market fied eight point-to-point long and thin sectors that will have share battle on overlapping routes in limited networks with enough passenger demand to justify non-stop flights. duplicated schedules. Of the country’s 274 domestic mar- “Now’s the best time for India’s carriers to learn what kets, there are only nine in which a single airline dominates, has worked and what hasn’t worked around the world,” says with traffic share that is more than twice its competitor. Glock. “They needn’t go through the pain of collapse and re- Network connectivity is essential, according to Glock. building. But they need to invest in smaller capacity equip- “You need only to know about the success stories with 100- ment so that they can go where their competitors with their seat jets and the radical transformations the other countries larger aircraft cannot. And we’re ready when they are.” SP

Photogra p h: embraer are making to their domestic industries to appreciate the —SP’s Special Correspondent

18 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net IBAE Report Enhancing Relationships While offering an array of opportunities to owners, suppliers and operators for promotion of their products and services in the rapidly growing Indian market, the Aviation Expo focused on the removal of bottlenecks to ensure continued growth

he third Indian The speakers said that Business Aviation active participation of the Expo (IBAE), organ- industry and the govern- ised by the Exhibi- ment can ensure India’s Ttions India Group and MIU place as the third larg- Events, was held at the est market for aviation in Grand hotel, New Delhi, on next five years. Kapil Kaul, February 21-22, 2012. CEO, South Asia, Centre The expo provided a for Asia Pacific Aviation, right platform enhancing expressed the need for an both domestic and inter- increased transparent en- national business relation- gagement between all key ships and partnerships. stakeholders within the Leading industry experts sector. While sharing his addressed the sessions concerns about demand proposing pragmatic so- and development of busi- lutions to the key issues ness aviation in India, he addressing with smile: Naveen Jindal, Member of Parliament related to the sector. The and Chairman & Managing Director, Jindal Steel and Power also mentioned the key expo witnessed 40 per cent during his inaugural address enablers like training, increase in the number of physical framework, fi- delegates with international participation from 10 countries nancial institutions, safety and security which require ur- and presence of 25 national and international speakers. gent attention. Facts catering to additional business jet fleet and general The robust data with both present and projected figures aviation industry valuation were shared by the industry an- was highlighted, thereby, shedding light on the upswing the alysts during the inaugural session. sector is expected to experience in the coming years. Todd While offering an array of opportunities to owners, sup- Hattaway, Regional Sales Director, India, Hawker Beech- pliers and operators for promotion of their products and ser- craft, introduced MRO basics to the audience and said that vices in the rapidly growing Indian market, the expo focused the aviation industry is tough but exciting. on the removal of bottlenecks to ensure continued growth. Phil Jordan, CEO, Business Air International, and Aadesh Unveiling the white paper titled ”General Aviation–Un- Batra, Managing Director, Hunt and Palmer, were part of folding Horizons”, Naveen Jindal, Member of Parliament and the panel discussion on the “role of brokers”. ‘Trustworthy’ Chairman and Managing Director, Jindal Steel and Power, fe- and ‘exclusivity’ were termed as key and vital ingredients licitated PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for providing a com- of a broker along with well-tailored solutions which clients prehensive report comprising useful and intriguing insights look for while engaging in dealings. The compelling need into the industry. “The role of general aviation and business for integrity between broker and operator was highlighted. aviation in nation building” was highlighted by Jindal. Rahul Garg, Executive Director of PwC, made a few rec- Rohit Kapur, President, Business Aircraft Operators As- ommendations on “careful contracting” and “tightly ring sociation (BAOA), and Dhiraj Mathur, Executive Director, fencing outright sales”. PwC Private Ltd, emphasised the tangible issues pertaining R.M. Bhargava, CEO, Desfab Engineers & Builders, to infrastructure. They highlighted the growth of infrastruc- brought forward ground infrastructure conditions. Further, ture in Indian aviation industry and especially in the heli- he cited incidents of failure due to inefficient ground equip- copter sector; need for alternative dedicated general avia- ment, thereby recommending proper designing of hangars tion airports in metropolis, airstrips and heliports, and fixed for efficient operations and coordination between the per- base operators (FBOs) and maintenance repair overhaul sonnel manning the hangars. (MRO) across the nation. The panelists and participants were unanimous about Subjects like “intangible challenges of regulatory frame- the urgent need of government participation in the business work, connectivity and communication” were analysed and aviation sector, which will place the Indian aerospace indus- the need for effective and transparent monitoring mecha- try in the global arena. SP

Photogra p h: IB A E nisms was underlined. —By SP’s Correspondent

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 19 Military Air-to-Surface Missiles Battling Neighbourhood Challenges

The Indo-Russian JV BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited is developing an Mk II version of the BrahMos as well. With a speed of Mach 7, it will have twice the speed of the current BrahMos-I. BrahMos-II has been titled as the fastest hypersonic missile in the world. Perhaps that would help India slowdown hypertensions in its neighbourhood.

nlike the air-to- By Air Marshal (Retd) In present day parlance, an air- air missiles which to-surface missile (also air-to-ground generally followed the V.K. Bhatia missile, AGM, ASM or ATGM) is a evolutionary pattern of missile designed to be launched from the aerial platforms on military aircraft and strike targets on which they were car- land, at sea, or both. They are similar ried, the concept of air-to-surface or to guided glide bombs but to be con- Uair-to-ground missiles, in compari- sidered a missile, they usually con- son, followed a different route. The concept took off early tain some form of propulsion system. Henchel’s Hs 293A, last century in the form of torpedoes launched from aircraft for example, had a belly-mounted liquid fuel rocket engine essentially against maritime targets either in a freefall mode to give it propulsion after launch which is why it is consid- or wire/radio controlled after launch. But it was the German ered to be the first of the air-to-surface missiles to have been war machine which developed and operationalised what used successfully in war. may fall into the category of the present day air-to-surface Currently, the two most common propulsion systems for guided missiles. They were the radio-controlled Henschel’s air-to-surface missiles are rocket motors and jet engines. Hs 293A and Ruhrstahl’s SD1400X, known as ‘Fritz X’, both These also tend to correspond to the range of the missiles— air-launched, primarily against ships at sea. The Henschel short and long, respectively. Some Russian air-to-surface Hs 293 was responsible for the world’s first successful guid- missiles are powered by ramjets, giving them both a long ed missile attack, sinking the British ship Egret on August range and high speed. 27, 1943. The weapon initially possessed an 18-channel Guidance for air-to-surface missiles is typically via laser radio control system and was flown in the same way as a guidance, infrared guidance, optical guidance or global posi- radio-controlled airplane. Wire guidance was subsequent- tioning systems (GPS) signals. The type of guidance depends ly adopted when it was discovered that the bomb’s radio on the type of target. Ships, for example, may be detected receiver was vulnerable to electronic countermeasures. via passive or active radar, while this would not work very Of the 15 battleships lost to airpower, one of those—the well against land targets which typically do not contain such 41,650-tonne Italian flagship Roma—was sunk by a Fritz X. a large mass of metal surrounded by empty space. The British battleship warspite was put out of commission One of the major advantages of air-to-surface missiles for six months by this weapon. Fritz Xs also hit the cruiser over other weapons available for aircraft to use for attack USS Philadelphia, heavily damaged the cruiser USS Savan- on ground targets is the standoff distance they provide. This

Photogra p h: A noo Kamath nah, and sank the Royal Navy light cruiser Spartan. allows them to launch the weapons outside the most intense

20 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Military Air-to-Surface Missiles air defences around the target site. Most sion (NESCOM), appears to be an air-to-surface missiles are fire-and-forget India and Russia entirely new missile, as is evident in order to take most advantage of the intend to make by the new name and a new of- standoff distance i.e. allow the launching ficial designation of Hatf VIII. platform to turn away after launch. Some 2,000 BrahMos missiles have enough range to be launched supersonic cruise China (YJ-12): Northern Areas over the horizon. These missiles (typically YJ is the abbreviation of Yingji cruise missiles) need to be able to find and missiles over the (meaning Eagle Strike), a little home in on the target autonomously. known supersonic Chinese Air-to-surface missiles could broadly next 10 years anti-ship missile developed in be subdivided into four categories viz. the 1990s. Externally, YJ-12 anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), typi- looks almost identical to ASMP, cally launched from helicopters, maritime and the performance, size and strike or land attack guided missiles, anti- weight of these two missiles radiation missiles and air-launched cruise are also very similar, prompt- missiles. While different types of air launched missiles have ing claims of YJ-12 being a Chinese copy of ASMP. However, different roles to play in the modern war zones, it is the air Chinese developers have denied this and claim that the mis- launched cruise missile (ALCM) which is gaining greater cur- sile is indigenously developed, without any French input. The rency because these can be launched from varying standoff propulsion system of the missile is a ramjet engine integrat- ranges. The launch aircraft therefore, while still transiting ed with a rocket booster, reportedly based on that of Kh-31 through friendly or less hostile airspace, are able to launch and developed with the help of Russian expertise. YJ-12 is their mostly ‘fire-and-forget’ weapon loads and turn back to- claimed to be the first Chinese supersonic anti-ship missile to wards their recovery bases while the ALCMs home onto their incorporate the modular design concept, and around a dozen targets, engaging them with pin-point accuracies. models have been developed or are under development. Historically, three countries—USA, USSR (now Russia) and China—have been the prolific makers of the air launched India (Brahmos): Meeting the Challenges air-to-surface missile (ASM) systems, but in the field of AL- BrahMos is a stealth supersonic cruise missile that can be CMs, many other nations are also jumping in the fray. These launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint include Brazil (AVMT-300), the European Consortium (Storm venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Shadow) from MBDA (UK, France, Italy), France (Air-Sol Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroeyenia Moyenne Portée: ASMP), Germany (Taurus KEPD 350), India (NPOM) who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Pri- (BrahMos, Nirbhay) and even Pakistan (Ra’ad) to name a few. vate Limited. It is the world’s fastest cruise missile in opera- It is interesting to note that within the troika of China; tion. The missile is named after two rivers, the mighty Brah- Pakistan and India—tied to each other through geographical maputra in India and the river Moskva in Russia. boundaries, mutual hostilities and border disputes—each BrahMos claims to have the capability of attacking surface country is embarked upon developing their own versions of targets by flying as low as 10 m in altitude. It can gain a speed ALCMs. Among many other older types, China is now trying of Mach 2.8 and has a maximum range of 290 km. Although to perfect the YJ-12. On the other hand, as stated earlier, BrahMos is primarily an anti-ship missile, it can also engage Pakistan is developing the Ra’ad and India in a joint venture land based targets. It can be launched either in a vertical with Russia is developing the air launched version of the or inclined position and is capable of covering targets over BrahMos. It would be in the fitness of things to discuss the a 360 degree horizon. The BrahMos missile has an identi- developments in India’s neighbourhood and its own efforts cal configuration for land, sea, and sub-sea platforms. The to meet the arising security challenges by creating matching air-launched version has a smaller booster and additional capabilities in this field of warfare, in greater detail. tail fins for added stability during launch. The BrahMos is currently being configured for aerial deployment with the Pakistan (Ra’ad): Western Theatre Su-30MKI as its carrier. The Indian Air Force would get its The Ra’ad (meaning Thunder) is an air-launched cruise mis- own version of BrahMos by end 2012. sile (ALCM) developed by Pakistan and operational with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Though initially launched from a PAF Going Hypersonic Dassault Mirage III retrofit of strike element (ROSE) combat The Indo-Russian JV BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited is aircraft during testing, the missile is planned to be integrated developing an Mk II version of the BrahMos as well. Brah- with and launched from other PAF platforms such as the JF-17 Mos-II will be a stealth hypersonic cruise missile that would combat aircraft. The Ra’ad’s current range is stated to be 350 fly at Mach 7. The range of BrahMos-II however would con- km. Ra’ad is designed to attack fixed enemy installations (such tinue to be regulated at 290 km, as Russia is a signatory of as radar posts, command nodes and stationary surface-to-air the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which does missile launchers) at stand-off range, keeping the launching not allow it to help other countries develop missiles with aircraft away from enemy air defence systems. The accuracy ranges above 300 kilometres. With a speed of Mach 7, it will of the missile is reported to be comparable to Pakistan’s Babur have twice the speed of the current BrahMos-I. BrahMos-II cruise missile, which has “pinpoint accuracy”, according to of- has been titled as the fastest hypersonic missile in the world. ficial sources. But the Ra’ad, developed by Pakistan’s Air Weap- Perhaps that would help India slowdown hypertensions ons Complex and National Engineering and Scientific Commis- in its neighbourhood. SP

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 21 Military Electronic Warfare

anti-MIssile decoy: AN/ALE-50 Towed decoy system developed by us military and raytheon

Countering Missile Threats No matter how sophisticated the counter- measures, there always remain a chance that an offensive weapon would find By Air Marshal (Retd) its target. It is to enhance survivability y t h e o n A.K. Trikha against such a possibility, that towed decoys have now being integrated into

P ho t ogr a ph: r combat aircraft’s defensive suites.

22 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Military Electronic Warfare

hreats emanating from employment of tion with the aircraft. For all future installations, a standard electromagnetic spectrum for offensive purposes multi-platform launch controller (MPLC) has been devel- have been significant features of modern war- oped. With platform specific launchers, MPLC will make AN/ fare since the invention of radar. With advance- ALE-50 adaptable to any tactical or combat support aircraft. ment of technology, these threats which include Slated for deployment on the F/A-18E/F, the B-1B and surface-to-air and air-to-air radar guided mis- the F-15 aircraft is an integrated defensive electronic coun- siles have grown both in quantum as well as sophistication termeasures system (IDECM). Conceptually it makes a de- Texponentially. Traditionally, combat aircraft have relied on a parture from the conventional approach and incorporates variety of onboard jammers for self-protection. These jam- onboard receivers and off-board countermeasures. mers emit electronic signals to impede or deny the threat IDECM system has three major components: radar’s ability to precisely locate the aircraft, thus negating • ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receiver. the weapon’s effectiveness. In response to development of • AN/ALQ-214 radio-frequency countermeasures sys- ever more effective radars, increasingly versatile jammers tem (RFCM). have become an essential part of combat aircraft’s defensive • AN/ALE-5 fibre-optic towed decoy system which com- suites. However, no matter how sophisticated the counter- bines an on-board electronic frequency converter measures, there always remain a chance that an offensive (EFC) and fibre-optic towed decoy. The EFC converts weapon would find its target. It is to enhance survivability radio frequencies to light, and sends the data through against such a possibility, that towed decoys are now being a fibre-optic line to the decoy. integrated into combat aircraft’s defensive suites. The onboard portion of the system captures radar signals Two outstanding examples of this approach are the Amer- from potential threat emitters via antennas on the forward ican AN/ALE-50 and integrated defensive electronic counter- and aft sections of the aircraft and determines an electronic measures (IDECM) system which includes AN/ALE-55 fibre- countermeasures (ECM) response to the threat. The response optic towed decoy (FOTD) as one of its major components. may use either onboard transmitters or the off-board trans- AN/ALE-50 Towed Decoy Sys- mitting capabilities of the towed tem jointly developed by a US Air decoy. For the off-board response, Force/Navy/Raytheon integrated an effective jamming signal is gen- product team is an anti-missile de- Threats emanating erated by onboard RFCM equip- coy system effective against active ment, converted to light and trans- and semi-active radar guided air- from employment mitted down a fibre-optic link to to-air and surface-to-air missiles. of electromagnetic the decoy. In the decoy, the light First deployed in 1996 on a USAF signal is converted back to RF, am- F-16, this anti-missile decoy is spectrum for plified, and transmitted using an- currently operational on the F-16, offensive purposes tennas integral to the decoy. F/A-18E/F, and B-1B aircraft. AN/ALE-55 provides three lay- The system consists of: have been significant ers of defensive jamming against • A launch controller, containing features of modern a radar-based threat. In the first the decoy’s power supply, and instance, it tries to prevent threat control/monitoring electronics warfare since the radar in acquisition mode from • A launcher which holds the invention of radar achieving a lock on its target. decoy magazine and can be The onboard EW suite analyses customised to fit any candi- the threat, while the towed decoy date aircraft emits response signals to confuse • Towed decoys packaged in the radar. If that fails, the onboard a sealed canister, which also EW suite determines the most ap- contains the payout reel propriate countermeasure to break AN/ALE-50 towed decoy component generates and the threat radar’s lock. However, the actual response is trans- emits its own signals that are intended to lure an incoming mitted by the decoy. If more than one radar is locked on to the radar-guided weapon away from the aircraft by presenting decoy or aircraft, AN/ALE-55 possesses the ability to send out a more attractive target. This stand-alone system requires multiple jamming signals. In the event that radar lock can- no threat specific software. It communicates its health and not be broken, and a RF guided missile launch is detected, status to its host aircraft over a standard data bus. the decoy attempts to jam the missile receiver and as a last AN/ALE-50 has validated an effective concept of sur- resort mimics the aircraft’s radar signature in an attempt to vivability. To enhance its usefulness further, Raytheon was draw the missile towards itself rather than the aircraft. considering several expanded applications. On the anvil was IDECM represents a major step towards enhancing the a higher power fibre-optic towed version for protection of potential of towed decoys for protection against RF threats. larger aircraft. It was also working closely with the USAF For now at least they improve significantly the combat air- and US Navy to develop an infrared towed decoy so that crafts’ chances of survival in an increasingly threat rich the AN/ALE-50 could provide equally effective protection environment. However, tussle between ‘threats’ and ‘coun- against both RF as well as infrared threats. termeasures’ is an ongoing story of war. That the balance F-16 used a platform-specific integrated launcher/launch will continue to shift from one side to another, is the only controller mounted in a wing pylon for the decoy’s integra- certainty that one can lay a wager on. SP

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 23 Military UAVs The Ubiquitous There is a need for urgent dialogue within the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs and Civil Aviation for ensuring collision avoidance and hassle-free traffic management, especially when the UAVs would be used in the hinterland for civilian or internal security ON MISSION: applications SOLAR EAGLE BY BOEING

ast month was very By Air Marshal (Retd) Research Organisation (NTRO) against encouraging for the indig- the perceived airborne attack by mili- enously developed verti- B.N. Gokhale tants using paragliders. cal take-off and landing In a recent interview, the US Presi- (VTOL) unmanned aerial dent Barack Obama did not mince vehicles (UAV) ‘Netra’, as words in stating that regardless of the it was inducted by the Indian para- ongoing politico-military standoff, the Lmilitary forces for reconnaissance US continues to carry out lethal UAV and surveillance roles. Currently, this lightweight 1.5 kg four attacks on targets in Pakistan. In this context it is also impor- bladed UAV made of carbon composites has a radius of ac- tant to note some key points from Obama’s January 5 address, tion of 200 metres and loiter time of 30 minutes. But the outlining reshaping of the US military in the context of Vision next version with longer duration is already under develop- 2020. While reiterating the need to maintain global military ment. This collaborative effort of the Defence Research and presence for crisis management, he has indicated reduction in Development Organisation (DRDO) and a private firm Idea- the current US troops deployment from the European main- Forge Private Ltd, formed by IIT alumni, is an encouraging land. Since the Libyan crisis, the US has indicated its willing- news for India’s quest for self-reliance in the defence sector. ness to allow North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)/Eu- Then on, December 17, 2011, came the news of 3,500 lbs ropean partners to lead while the US would follow (lead from of cargo being supplied by the US developed Kaman K-MAX behind strategy); a policy in vast variation to all other crisis unmanned helicopter, to a Marine’s combat outpost ‘Payne’ in in recent history. The lean US presence is however expected Afghanistan. While the US grapples with problems of increas- to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) ing numbers of causalities due to IED and continuing ambush- and although not specifically mentioned, would heavily rely es of road convoys, such remotely piloted platforms will find on the use of UAVs. Such shift in policy is in tune with reduced greater use in this theatre of war. It is also estimated that the overseas commitment from the Central Command (CENT- cost of the operating K-MAX is approximately $1,100 per hour, COM) Theatre to Asia-Pacific. The higher reliance on UAVs which is considerably lower than its manned counterpart. would also mean less drain on the defence budget compared As for the increasingly versatile roles of UAV, there is news to deployment of manned platforms like F-35 and F-22. How- that by July 2012, the London skyline will have another ‘eye ever, it must be borne in mind that the successful UAV/drone in the sky’. To assist the unprecedented security arrangements attacks in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region have been due to being undertaken for the 30th Summer Olympics, London po- total air supremacy for the US with hardly any worry of ac- lice will be deploying UAVs to ensure round-the-clock surveil- tive air defence measures. Nevertheless, newer stealthy UAVs lance. The 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi with self-protection technologies are also being developed to

Photogra p h: boeing had also witnessed UAV deployment by the National Technical permit their use in an active battle scenario.

24 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Military UAVs

What started as a remotely controlled the adversary’s infrastructure in the ‘aerial target’ to practise gun or missile Use of UAVs in initial phases of hostilities. Attacks on shooting by combat pilots and for the an- purely civilian command, control and communication ti-aircraft gunners has rapidly developed hubs can render the adversary ‘deaf, into a multi-purpose platform; almost at roles also has dumb and blind’. The Chinese are the verge of replacing many roles that a great potential also reported to be progressing UAV traditional manned aircraft or a rotary programmes based on Israeli Harpy wing platform has performed. Although drones. While use of similar capability UAVs cannot replace the onboard flexi- was first demonstrated by the Israeli ble decision-making by a pilot, their long Air Force in the 1982 Bekaa Valley op- endurance and ability to undertake ‘dull erations, recent use of advanced UAV and boring’ missions such as surveil- incorporating information warfare lance, make their use in tandem, very obvious and attractive. programme during their successful attack in September While complementary UAV roles for ISR and electronic 2007 on the Syrian nuclear reactor under construction, has support missions remained the major focus, a paradigm shift been a technological leap forward. in their deployment came with the introduction of MQ-1Pred- As a flip side of the military usages, the UAVs have ator type of platforms capable of armed attacks. The United great potential for paramilitary and police applications for States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) maintaining internal security. These can be used for bor- have used these in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and in Ye- der patrols, coastal surveillance, anti-piracy functions and men. The Chinese have also reportedly used indigenous armed for assisting Special Forces during anti-terrorist operations. UAVs in the troubled Uyghur region. Surveillance of vital areas and vital points such as nuclear While the heart of the UAV is the payload, there have been and strategic installations is another important function for rapid improvements made to both the airframe and power gathering activity-based intelligence leading to proactive or plants, which have enabled the UAVs to fly at much higher anticipatory actions by the security forces. altitudes and also for longer durations such as the American Use of UAVs in purely civilian roles also has great poten- RQ-4 Global Hawk. The US Defense Advanced Research Proj- tial. These include surveillance and data relay during disaster ects Agency (DARPA) has a programme, entitled ‘VULTURE’, management. Monitoring radiation leaks, oil spillage along an acronym for very-high altitude, ultra-endurance, loitering, the coast, flood and cyclone relief mitigation efforts, are some theatre unmanned reconnaissance element. Under this pro- such functions, which can be carried out with the help of UAVs. gramme, with solar power and lightweight carbon fibre air- With improvements in robotics, artificial intelligence, nano- frame, Boeing is developing a UAV named Solar Eagle to fly technology and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) continuously for five years. Then there are projects for flying technology, it seems the applications are becoming limitless. close to stratosphere, which will increase loiter time consider- It may seem trivial, but in a recent incident, a County Sheriff ably. Meanwhile efforts are also on to introduce mid-air refuel- in mid-West, USA, had used UAV to spot bandits involved in ling for tactical use UAVs to increase their endurance and in stealing cattle. Since the police helicopter in chase had been turn the ‘continuous stare’ for effective surveillance. shot at and had to force land, UAV seemed a better option. Bandwidth for both control and up/down loading of data However, there are two important operating limitations, is another important element of these remotely operated which need to be addressed with the anticipated increase platforms. Satellite aided communication has been the key in UAVs, in the Indian skies. One major limitation would be for data transfer and to improve the range for remotely han- that of the availability of spectrum and bandwidth, which dling the UAVs. In India the Services are in the process of is woefully inadequate currently. As such more numbers of acquiring such connectivity, whereas the NTRO Heron UAVs dedicated transponders catering to redundancy need to be have already incorporated such capability. This is one lim- planned in the forthcoming Indian Space Research Organ- iting factor that the Indian planners will need to take into isation (ISRO) satellite programmes. There have been issues account as the numbers and density of UAV operations in- of electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic crease in the Indian airspace. compatibility (EMC), which also needs to be resolved ho- Varied payloads have increased the utility and potential listically while allotting bandwidth and operating frequen- of UAVs to make them truly ubiquitous. Imaging itself has cies. The other limitation, which needs to be addressed, is been enhanced with visual, infrared, near-infrared, radar that of airspace management. There is a need for urgent and other electromagnetic sensors. Very shortly, imaging by dialogue within the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs and microwave, ultra-violet and other frequencies including use Civil Aviation for ensuring collision avoidance and hassle- of laser will enable imaging through foliage and other types free traffic management, especially when the UAVs would of camouflage as well as inclement weather. Apart from us- be used in the hinterland for civilian or internal security ing Hellfire types of missiles, the UAVs are being fitted with applications. The increasing numbers in commercial and low charge carbon body bombs to reduce collateral damage. corporate airplanes as well as helicopters necessitates issu- Payloads for ‘lasing’ a target for LGB attacks by combat air- ance of comprehensive guidelines for UAV operations by the craft are also a commonly used technique. Apart from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in consultation US Predator and Israeli Hermes armed UAVs, the Chinese with the Indian Air Force, which is tasked with air defence have also configured ASN-229A UAV for armed attacks. functions. With all such anticipatory steps, it seems that the Apart from the reusable armed UAVs, there are dispens- ubiquitous UAV would slowly but surely make its presence able platforms pre-programmed and aimed at neutralising felt in the Indian skies. SP

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 25 Military SP’s Exclusive

AMCA: Unlike LCA It is likely to have a distributed system with smart remote units

IndigWitherenisation Will AMCA be India’s last manned fighter jet programme?

ith the amount By SP’s Special doctrine, and two, the fighter types of energy and Correspondent that will be inducted in the next de- focus the govern- cade—both Indian and foreign— will ment has invested be templates for improved variants and continues to that could be in use for at least the invest in the light next half-century. combat aircraft (LCA) programme, For now, however, the AMCA is a Wsome crucial evolutionary efforts get well-defined programme that looks blindsided. Of particular interest is the advanced medium towards delivering tangible results in terms of a credible, combat aircraft (AMCA), a stealthy fifth generation manned potent combat aircraft platform on the lines of the Lockheed fighter concept intended to produce a potent multi-role plat- Martin F-35 Lightning II. It makes sense, therefore, for the form (with a focus on strike profiles) that will, in time, sup- Indian military-industrial complex to develop evolutionary plant the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Jaguars and MiG-27s. The technologies that will find place both on manned and un- government prefers that the AMCA project, headed by scien- manned platforms. On the AMCA, Indian scientists are look- tist Dr A.K. Ghosh, remains below the proverbial radar, but ing to push the envelope further than they’ve ever tried to the secrecy with which the effort progresses has led many before. Every little bit makes a difference when a legacy leap to wonder if the AMCA could actually be India’s final indig- is at play, which is why, from engine performance param- enous manned fighter aircraft programme (the question eters to control surfaces to control laws to cockpit ergonom- assumes huge importance considering that full scale engi- ics, everything is up for change. neering development (FSED) of the platform could begin The obvious evolutions are clear: low-observable shape within a year). That notion is supported by two facts: one, and airframe materials, extensive use of carbon composites, the aeronautical establishment will be investing majorly in internal weapons bays, low bypass low-emission engines, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (specifically the Predator- modular internals, etc. The deeper you go, the more compli- like Rustom-H and stealthy flying wing AURA) going with cated and revolutionary the plans actually become.

26 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Military SP’s Exclusive If AMCA Project Director Dr One of the key Sensors will be a proving ground Ghosh meets his objectives, then for just how advanced the AMCA one of the most compelling aspects areas that India programme is, and will be in reality of the AMCA will be its cockpit and a test case for future applications on man-machine interface. To begin has lagged behind unmanned vehicles. Scientists will with, unlike the decidedly crowded, is on control laws be working towards getting the me- fourth-generation cockpit of the LCA chanical gyros and accelerometers, Tejas, the AMCA cockpit is being standard on the Tejas, to evolve on developed with a panoramic active- the AMCA into fibre-optic gyros, matrix display, of the kind available ring laser gyros and MEMS gyros. on American fifth generation aircraft. The pressure probes and vanes that Switches, bezels and keypads stand make up the air-data sensors will be- to be replaced with touch screen interfaces and voice com- come an optical and flush air data system, and position sen- mands. What Dr Ghosh’s team wants is for the future IAF sors will be linear/rotary optical encoders. Importantly, ac- pilot to have a helmet-mounted display system that allows tuators—currently electro-hydraulic/direct drive—could be the dispensing of a head-up display (HUD) from the cockpit, electro-hydrostatic to accrue substantive weight savings on altogether a revolutionary concept. The Aeronautical De- the AMCA. Sensor fusion for an overarching situational pic- velopment Establishment (ADA), which oversees the AMCA ture is something the ADA is already attempting to achieve programme, has asked private industry in the country to on the Tejas suite, and so, on the AMCA, it should be a stan- explore the feasibility of creating primary panoramic dis- dard requirement. plays and other avionics displays that would befit a fifth One of the key areas that India has lagged behind is on generation cockpit environment. The cockpit, however, is control laws. The AMCA should feature highly evolved in- simply one of the hugely ambitious technology wish list that tegrated control laws for flight, propulsion, braking, nose Dr Ghosh and his team are pinning their hopes on for the wheel steer and fuel management, and adaptive neural net- aircraft they ultimately produce. works for fault detection, identification and control law re- The proposed evolutions begin at the lowest level—sys- configuration. All of this will cost the country much, but will tem architecture—and will attempt to build a triplex fly-by- find valuable applications in the unmanned programmes, light electro-optic architecture with fibre-optic links for sig- particularly AURA. Unlike the Tejas, which features an avi- nal and data communications, unlike the electrical links on onics systems architecture based on functionality-based in- the Tejas platform. Significantly, unlike centralised architec- dividual computer systems connected on MIL-STD-1553B ture on the Tejas, the AMCA proposes to sport a distributed buses and `422 links, the AMCA’s avionics systems archi- architecture with smart sub-systems. Likewise, unlike the tecture, it is hoped, will feature a “central computational LCA’s centralised digital flight control computer (DFCC), the system connected internally and externally on an optic fi- AMCA is likely to have a distributed system with smart re- bre channel by means of multiport connectivity switching mote units for data communication with sensors and actua- modules”. In such a system, functionality will be mapped on tors, a system that will almost definitely require much faster resources optimally and reallocated when faults occur. Data on-board processors. communications on the AMCA’s processing modules will be through a high-speed fibre channel bus, IEEE-1394B-STD. The connectivity will be switched by means of a multiport switching matrix, with data speeds of 400MB/second. In the literature made available on the programme, these facets On display: AMCA at Aero reveal the stunning leap scientists are looking to make with India 2009 this one manned aircraft programme. The AMCA is almost certain to have integrated radio navigation systems, where all burdens earlier borne by ana- logue circuits will be carried out by digital processors. Com- munication systems will be based on software radio ranging from UHF to K band, with data links for digital data/voice data and video. One of the most exciting areas being exploited for the AMCA is algorithms. While the LCA suites no major decision aid to the pilot, the AMCA commander will have the ability to plan attack strategies, avoidance tactics, retreat strate- gies and evasive strategies for himself and his partners in the air. Each of these technologies, planned in a manned environment are being evolved and developed for extension to an autonomous unmanned environment as well. Critics would argue that the establishment needs to focus on finish- ing what it has started before dreaming big. Others would say that it’s better to think big now, than face repeated obso- lescence even before your bird flies. SP

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 27 Military Industry Hopes Alive “With our AMRAAM programme, we still have an opportunity in the MMRCA deal,” said Caesar Rico Rodrique, Jr of Raytheon

esar Rico Rodriguez Jr., International Pro- grammes and Growth, Air Warfare System, Raythe- on, was on a visit to India recently, to size up Ray- theon’s advanced medium-range air-to-air missile C(AMRAAM) programme and hinted at an opportunity for the weapon manufacturer in the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal. “We found that not everyone is aware about AMRAAM. We have got platforms that are flying in the Western Hemisphere today. The ability of AMRAAM to be part of the MMRCA exists, and is avail- able through the US Government FMS route. There is still an opportunity,” he said and added, “We have been a part of the integration process all around the world—Gripen, F-18, F-16, F-15, and can do so if desired by IAF too. “Our Paveway relationship is not only with India, but we also have relations with French Air Force and Pre Flight inspection: AIM-120 air-to-air missile were a part of their performance in the recent opera- on F-15E Strike Eagle; tions in Libya.” (inset) missile in action Speaking to Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia of SP’s Aviation, Rodriguez further said that the other thing that they want to highlight is Raytheon’s ability to up- grade the third generation legacy airplanes with fourth can all go in a Su-30 as well. Technically the integration is generation capabilities. “We have a variety of integration possible, albeit politically undefined. Whether FMS or DCS, technologies, some of which are unique to Paveway and we have the final gatekeeper process. It’s the US Govern- the other system. We now want to take the Jaguar aircraft, ment, which takes the decision.” which some people might think is falling behind in terms of Speaking more about AMRAAM, he said that the missile technology, and integrate it with precision weapons. Very has to its credit 3,000 test firings from developmental test to few weapon manufacturers are thinking like Raytheon to operational test with 92 per cent successful hits. bring the legacy platforms forward. We work on a cross On the Patriot, he informed that there are now seven in- section of airplanes as our weapons last that long. We have ternational partners of Raytheon who have either acquired the laser Maverick, which has been upgraded and now has or signed for Patriot. “It has unique capability and credible incredible capability.” weapon deterrence capability. The beauty of it is that the On being asked whether there is a possibility of Maverick system continues to listen to the customers.” to be integrated on MiG-27, Rodriguez said that the oppor- Hopeful about alliances with IAF, Rodriguez said, “The In- tunities are there. “Once an aircraft becomes the property dian Air Force is global. We can cooperate, collaborate. It is of the IAF, it becomes an Indian platform, although it is a a different customer and we need to look at it differently.” SP

Photogr ap hs: U S AF Russian made aircraft. Whether a Maverick or a Paveway, it —By Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia

28 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net

conference Report Platform for Interaction The two-day event on February 24 and 25, 2012, though largely focused on unmanned aircraft system, had dedicated sessions on unmanned ground and underwater vehicles

rganised by the By Air Marshal (Retd) and built the Global Hawk, Raytheon Aeronautical Devel- B.K. Pandey, Bangalore which provided sensors and support opment Establishment equipment for the Hawk and Lock- (ADE) Bangalore, an ISO heed Martin whose Skunk Works has 9001:2008 certified multi- a range of futuristic projects on the disciplinary organisation anvil. Of special interest to the Indian under the Defence Research and De- Air Force (IAF) were the unmanned Ovelopment Organisation (DRDO), the combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) under second edition of International Conference on Autonomous development that unfortunately is not available for offer to Unmanned Vehicles (ICAUV 2012) was held at Eagleton Golf India on account of restrictions imposed by the Missile Tech- Resort, a picturesque locale on the outskirts of Bangalore. The nology Control Regime. A prototype of the UAV developed two-day event on February 24 and 25, 2012, though largely and flight tested by a team of students from Delhi Techno- focused on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), had dedicated logical University with financial resources and support from sessions on unmanned ground and underwater vehicles. Lockheed Martin, was displayed at the venue. As compared with the first edition of the conference Notable amongst the speakers were Dr Siva S. Banda, held in April 2009, the number of participating nations this Chief Scientist from US Air Force Research Laboratory who time round had gone up from eight to 15. In all there were delivered the keynote address, system designers from Rolls- around 400 participants from North and South America, Royce, BAE Systems, Saab of Sweden, EADS (France and Australia, Europe and Asia. The conference had four ple- Germany), Directors from International Civil Aviation Or- nary sessions, six industry talks and 50 presentations on a ganisation and representatives of European Organisation range of subjects that covered every conceivable aspect of for Civil Aviation Equipment. The technical sessions delib- UAS. Participants from amongst the global aerospace ma- erated upon aero propulsion systems, flight and mission jors included Northrop Grumman, a company that designed control systems, avionics systems, structural systems, un-

One of its Kind The unique feature of the project is a highly effective industry-academia collaboration and partnership between Lockheed Martin and Delhi Technological University, right from concept to design and till the realisation of project objectives prototype of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) devel- oped by a team of students of Delhi Technological Uni- A versity (DTU), erstwhile Delhi College of Engineering, was displayed at the ICAUV 2012 conference held at the Eagle- ton Golf Resort on the outskirts of Bangalore on February 24 and 25 this year. The UAV prototype was on display at the ex- hibition and was backed up by a video of their first flight test in January this year. The team of students from DTU won the top honours in a competition to design a small UAV against teams from universi- ties such as MIT and Stanford, in a US-based contest conducted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. Impressed by the talent displayed by the group of engineering undergraduates, in 2009, the US aerospace major Lockheed UAV developed by Delhi Martin Corporation initiated a project with DTU to develop a new Technological University takes-off on January 19, 2012

Photogra p hs: A DE & Int e r-cor generation machine that would have civilian and military appli-

30 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Conference Report

in the formulation of regulatory procedures and practices. From the proceedings it was evident that despite the high level of automation already achieved, much work remained to be done in respect of technological advancement before unmanned aircraft can be integrated into civilian air traffic management system with the required degree of safety. Apart from providing a platform for interaction amongst Indian and international UAS communities to forge strategic alliances between the two, to enable access to the evolving technologies, the conference provided an exposure to the rep- resentatives of the Indian armed forces to the latest devel- opments, advancements and ongoing research in the United States, Europe and Israel, the leading players in this disci- pline. Presentations made by the ADE, the IAF and the Indian Navy also provided an insight into the progress made in re- lated research and development in India, state of the indus- try, current capabilities and the potential market for different categories of UAS especially for the Indian armed forces as JOINT EFFORT: sp’s special supplement on unmanned systems, well as for civilian applications. But perhaps an important published by sp guide publications as the oficial media aspect of the exercise was the exposure to the opportunities partner was released by chief guests of the conference available in the global market for the budding Indian UAS industry as well as the opportunity for the Indian operators to share and deliberate upon the operational experience gained and the lessons learnt by the major military powers that have manned ground vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, accumulated vast experience in the deployment of a wide va- mini and micro UAV systems, current and future trends as riety of UAS in the wars in Iraq and the Afghanistan-Pakistan also operational experience with lessons drawn. Dedicated region. Of particular relevance was the employment of UAS in industry sessions were conducted on the second day to facili- the counter-terrorism role. tate interaction and exploration of avenues for collaboration The scale and the manner in which the event was or- between DRDO and the global industry. Issues pertaining to ganised was a clear expression of India’s understanding the ongoing international programme related to certifica- and appreciation of the capabilities that UAS have to offer tion of UAS and their integration in the air traffic manage- for application both in the military and civilian regimes and ment system in controlled civilian airspace and the impera- the critical role this family of aerial platforms can play in tive need for India to understand and actively participate the future. SP

cations. The team was guided by John Sheehan, Senior Systems and Automobile Engineering as also Physics, had made a presenta- Engineer at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and Project Manager tion to Tejendra Khanna, Lt Governor of Delhi. John Sheehan of for urban UAS project and Dr Peter Drewes, Business Innovation LMC and Professor P.B. Sharma, the Vice Chancellor DTU, attended Manager, Autonomous Systems, Lockheed Martin. the presentation. The team had designed and developed a UAV for Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC) is engaged in research, deployment. The 36-kg UAV is a fixed-wing aircraft with a 12 foot design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment wingspan that can climb to an altitude of 20,000 feet, can carry a of advanced technology systems, products and services. Lock- payload of 17 kg comprising sensors for imaging and surveillance. heed Martin Corporate Engineering and Technology Organisa- In 2010 and 2011, the team was hosted at LHM establishment at tion undertook the responsibility to provide the student group Fort Worth, Texas, where the students had the opportunity to visit with LMC-generated design to structure their efforts, technical the F-16 production facility. On August 31, 2010, the team com- supervision, guidance in project management and funding for pleted Phase I of the project and presented the conceptual design the two-year research project. The team was required to prepare of the UAV to LMC. Thereafter, the team embarked on Phase II of its own design and then develop a flying prototype. For the stu- the project which included preliminary design followed by detailed dents of DTU, it was a propitious opportunity especially after an design, fabrication and testing. The final phase will comprise an indifferent and bureaucratic response from the Indian Defence elaborate flight test programme to progressively expand the operat- Research and Development Organisation as well as from some ing envelope of the machine. private entities. What inspired LMC to step into the project was The unique feature of the project is a highly effective indus- aptly summed up by Ray O. Johnson, Senior Vice President and try-academia collaboration and partnership between LMC and Chief Technology Officer, LMC, when he stated that the group of DTU right from concept to design and till the realisation of proj- undergraduate students who had worked on a technology that ect objectives. Also, this partnership between LMC and DTU is an was not even a part of the curriculum in their institution. eloquent example and symbolic of US aerospace major’s long- Earlier on, the inter-disciplinary team of DTU headed by Gaurav term commitment to India and the partnerships which it seeks Gupta, a final year mechanical engineering student, and 10 under- to develop and nurture. SP graduate students from the departments of Computer, Electrical —By Air Marshal (Retd.) B.K. Pandey, Bangalore

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 31 show report singapore airshow 2012 Networking Podium Over four trade days, Singapore Airshow 2012 played host to about 900 exhibitors from 50 countries and 266 delegations from 80 countries

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sia’s largest and one of the three most important aerospace and defence exhibitions in the world, Singapore Airshow 2012 had a record number of trade and public visitors. The six-day event from February 14-19, 2012 wit- nessed about 1,45,000 visitors and the largest ever number of top level delegations. AOver four trade days, Singapore Airshow 2012 played host to about 900 exhibitors from 50 countries and 266 del- egations from 80 countries who flew to Singapore in order to network, establish partnerships and forge new deals. The aerial displays included show-stopping performanc- es from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), the Roy- 2 al Malaysian Air Force “Smokey Bandits”, the United States Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force “Roulettes”. Australian pilot Tony Blair of Blair Aerosports also made his debut appearance in the first stunt aerobatic performance in the history of air shows in Singapore. Singapore Airlines also hosted guided tours on one of their last three remaining Boeing 747-400s, which was at the Singapore Airshow to commemorate the retirement of its B747 fleet. The event had a record value of deals announced worth more than $31 billion (`1,55,000 crore) and the major an- nouncements include contracts for Boeing, Airbus, Pratt & Whitney, CFM and ATR. SP — SP’s Correspondent

1. official opening ceremony and celebrations of the Singapore Airshow 2012 2. The Royal Australian Air Force Roulettes is a six-ship formation display team 3. in the heat of the Singapore Airshow’s third edition 4. from ACJ318 corporate jet for VIP travel on the left, to the A330 MRTT for military aerial refueling and airlift duties on the right 5. boeing’s f-15SG strike eagle on static display 6. gErard Longuet, French Defence Minister, on the EADS stand in front of a model of Airbus Military’s C295 7. alenia Aermacchi showcased its c-27J (in the pic) and Two Italian Air Force’s M-346 aircraft in the show 8. sikorsky S-92 Legacy of Heroes demonstration helicopter was on static display at the show 9. boeing 787 Dreamliner Arrives in Singapore ratt & whitn e y B o e ing & p ratt sikorsky, cfm, al e nia a rmacchi, airbus, 2012, singa p or e airshow Photogra p hs: Ex pe ria Ev e nts, 3 10. Airbus A350 XWB cutaway model

32 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net show report singapore airshow 2012

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Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 33 show report singapore airshow 2012

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1. f-15SG and F-16C performing a vertical Punch manoeuvre 2. singapore Airshow mascot, Captain Leo 3. Jackie Chan’s $30-million Embraer Legacy 650 lands in Singapore for the Singapore Airshow 2012 4. Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners Signs Maintenance Agreements with Japan Airlines 5. ahamad Alzabin and Jean- Paul Ebanga, president, cfm international celebrate ALAFCO LEAP-1A order 6. tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO, provided an update on the Asia Pacific market and industrial partnerships 7. trade visitors don’t miss any opportunity to take a shot at amazing flying displays

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34 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Hall of Fame quarter of a century Tragedy struck on day two itself ­Humourist Will Rogers, noticing that after the dawn of powered when Marvel Crosson died after she the pilots couldn’t resist taking out flight, aircraft were still bailed out too low for her parachute to their compacts and doing their faces, flimsy contraptions of bal- open. The critics of the whole crazy en- said that it looked to him like a “pow- sa wood, fabric and wire. terprise felt vindicated. “Women Have der puff derby”. There was no malice TheirA engines were fickle affairs, prone Conclusively Proven That They Can- in his remark and later the women to overheat or to quit without warn- not Fly!” and “Race Must Be Stopped”, themselves adopted the name for the ing. In the absence of instruments and screamed the headlines. The women, annual race. The problems they en- navigational aids low flying was the however, were determined to con- countered were common rather than norm—there was no other way gender-specific. Three pilots to navigate. To follow a road or dropped out when their planes rail track marked on a motoring were wrecked beyond repair; one map was foolproof (well, almost). was too ill to continue. Ruth Nich- If lost, a pilot would put the ma- ols, who had been in the lead, had chine down on a field reasonably perhaps the most heart-breaking bereft of trees and cattle, ask for experience. While testing her re- directions, and take-off again. The paired plane on the last morning United States had just 70 licensed of the race, she hit a tractor. Al- female pilots who made a living though uninjured she was forced stunt flying, barnstorming, and to quit. But 15 intrepid women wing-walking for air shows. Many completed the 2,800-mile race to died young. They could do practi- Cleveland, Ohio, in eight days, and cally anything the men did—set a large crowd was on hand to ap- speed and altitude records, test fly, plaud their achievement. carry out decent mechanical re- International Women’s Day pairs, and parachute from planes. is a fitting occasion to recall the But there was one thing they 1929 Derby—a turning point couldn’t do—race. Cross-country in the early history of women’s air racing was strictly for men. aviation. The race had long been All that changed in 1929. The Women’s Air Derby recognised as a gruelling test of first Women’s Air Derby that be- endurance, courage and flying gan on August 18 was a transcon- (1929) ability when men flew it. That so tinental event, and the opening many women, snidely referred attraction of the US National Air The US had just 70 to as “Petticoat Pilots” and “Fly- Races. The contest attracted con- licensed female pilots who ing Flappers” actually completed siderable interest, not so much for the event, forced people to accept the $2,500 first prize as for the made a living stunt flying, them as independent, competitive, shortcut to professional fame it af- intelligent, serious and competent forded participants. The organising barnstorming, and wing- pilots. Twenty-three-year-old Lou- committee had been concerned walking for air shows. Many ise Thaden (pictured here) who about women flying over the Rocky won the race said, “My success mountains and helpfully proposed died young. in the Derby was more important shifting the starting point to Oma- than life or death. We women were ha, Nebraska. However, the women out to prove that flying is safe. I would have none of it, so the start think the results proved that our was moved back to Santa Monica. purpose had been more than ad- Only 40 women met the qualifying re- tinue. They had support from some equately fulfilled.” And Heather Taylor quirements: a licence from the Fédéra- of the best known pilots and celebri- who recounts their inspiring story in a tion Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) ties of the day. They also had a strong recent documentary Breaking Through and 100 hours of solo flying, including feeling of sisterhood that kept them the Clouds says, “The courage and 25 hours of solo cross-country. Eighteen going—a sense that they were mak- strength these women demonstrated of them plus two Europeans began the ing history together. Besides, glamour daily while facing mechanical break- race. The women took their mission very compensated for some of the many downs, societal scorn and individual seriously, aware of the constant peril. hardships. Each overnight halt meant pressure is dramatic. Their vulnerabili- They flew over parched deserts, lush receptions and festivities, with the pi- ty and ‘failures’ further engage all those green valleys and the frigid peaks of the lots having to change from rough flying who hear the story. They approached Rockies, navigating by dead reckoning gear into party gowns, and suffering aviation with enthusiasm and purpose and roadmaps. Swirling sandstorms, some more sleep deprivation, before while making their dreams important heavy rain and haze were par for the launching early the next morning. In- to the world.” SP course. Forced landings were many; the evitably, their looks and clothes gained —Group Captain (Retd) pilots fixed their planes and flew on. more press coverage than their flying. Joseph Noronha, Goa

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 35 newsDigest BY SP’s Special Correspondent

India to test Agni-V of MRMR aircraft with operating the first one) have catapult are unknown to us." Eurocop- range of at least 350-nm and pa- launch systems. ter's anxiety is understandable. trol time of at least 3.5 hours. While the Rafale and F-35C In 2007, the company suf- The Navy currently operates (also offered) are CATOBAR jets, fered a major shock when the Tu-142, Il-38SD and Do-228s the other three, the naval Ty- MoD pulled the plug on the first for varying degrees of maritime phoon, MiG-29K and concept iteration of the same deal fol- surveillance/reconnaissance, but Sea Gripen are proposed as STO- lowing allegations of discrepan- will be moving to the jet regime BAR aircraft using a deck ski- cies in platform fielded. At the for the first time on the role, with jump. Industry sources indicate time, the AS 550 C3 was widely brand new Boeing P-8Is that be- that the Rafale's advantage in considered to be a frontrunner Months of anticipation by India's gin delivery next year, and to be the MMRCA could influence the against its then contender, a vari- strategic planners will be satis- based at INS Rajali, Arakkonam. way the navy thinks, in terms of ant of the Bell 407. Disappointed fied shortly with the indigenous The nine new MRMR aircraft to platform commonality with the but not rebuffed by the abort, the Agni-V ballistic missile ready in be acquired will augment the IAF, should the latter choose to company fielded the same plat- all respects for its first ever test. mission spectrum profiles that conclude a contract with Das- form when the contract was re- The three-stage missile, capable will be satisfied by the 12 P-8Is sault. The Navy fighter compe- tendered the following year. of delivering a one-tonne nuclear long-range maritime reconnais- tition is still in a pre-RFP stage, On the other hand, Rosobo- warhead out to a range of 5,500 sance (LRMR) jets, and are likely though it has gone through sev- ronexport earlier this month, is- km is India's most ambitious to be based at INS Hansa, Goa. eral rounds of information ex- sued a press release to Russian strategic weapon so far, and will According to official documents, change and scrutiny. Lockheed- media that the Ka-226T Sergei be a principal instrument of de- the MRMR will be used by the Martin has proposed the VTOL helicopter would soon beat out terrence against Beijing, since it navy for maritime patrol, anti- F-35B and the CATOBAR F-35C the Eurocopter contender to win is the first Indian weapon sys- surface warfare (two anti-ship variants, while Rosoboronexport the Indian deal. The acquisition is tem that will be deployable to missiles and jammer pod mini- will be making a full attempt to indeed in its final stages, with the virtually all parts of China. The mum), ELINT/ESM/ECM/CO- convince the Navy to simply or- Technical Oversight Committee government has made it clear on MINT and search and rescue. der more MiG-29Ks. A design (TOC) approving the final report multiple occasions that it would The aircraft expected to vie freeze on a catapult launch con- from the Army and MoD. like to see the Agni-V enter ser- for the deal include the Saab figuration would narrow down vice in the shortest possible time India to order 71 more Mi- 2000, a 'lite' version of the Boeing the competition considerably. to tie in with the larger regional 17 V5 helicopters P-8I Neptune, the Dassault Fal- posturing on India's agenda over RSH Chopper deal at final con 900 MPA, Alenia Aeronautica the next five to seven years. stage, vendors jittery ATR-72 MP and the EADS CASA An officer with the Strategic C-295 MPA. The Navy's expand- Forces Command, who preferred ed maritime security duties, both to remain anonymous, said, "The coastal and in deep water, mean Agni-V has been built quickly that it needs many more aircraft and efficiently and it is based on than earlier planned. In fact, the the Agni-III system, which has navy has already defined a need been proven successfully by our for at least 12 more (in addition Following the order for 80 Mi-17 scientists. It is important for us to to 12 ordered) LRMR aircraft, V5 helicopters that is in the pro- support this endeavour to the full though it is not clear if it will cess of induction into the Indian extent possible. We would like to choose to acquire more Boeing With India's effort to acquire Air Force, the government plans begin receiving Agni-V units by P-8Is, or float a fresh competition. 197 brand new light recon- to procure 71 more of the type 2014 for active deterrence duty." naisance and surveillance heli- from Russia, including a certain Rafale, Eurofighter have Govt expands MRMR, copters (RSH) reaching its final number for the Border Security one more war in India ­approves deal stage, the two final contenders Force and Central Police Forces. Technically, the MMRCA battle are anxious for the final result. The new generation Mi-17s, isn't over just yet, though Eu- While Eurocopter has written a with more powerful engines and rofighter is still working on a letter to the Indian Army Chief firepower could be the work- counter strategy to break back General V.K. Singh requesting horse of the IAF's medium lift into the reckoning. However, to know why a decision is still capability, with additional num- indications suggest that the pending on the long-drawn out bers intended to replace ageing Rafale bid was significantly acquisition process, Rosobo- Mi-8 and older generation Mi-17 more competitive than the Ty- ronexport has announced that it airframes currently in service. phoon's. Still, there may be one is confident of bagging the deal The Mi-17 V5s, ordered in war left that the Typhoon and that could exceed $1 billion. 2008, are fully night operations The Indian Navy's ambitious ex- capable and are fitted with ad- Rafale will fight. The Rafale and Eurocopter, which has fielded pansion in air assets moves for- the AS 550 C3 Fennec, says in vanced sensors and navigation a concept navalised version of ward with the government pro- its letter, "We take this oppor- systems for operations across the the Eurofighter are technically viding an all clear for Navy HQ tunity to express our concern board. The IAF plans to use the to proceed with the procurement in the reckoning for the Indian regarding the time frame for new aircraft for disaster relief, of nine new medium range mari- Navy's next fighter buy. These the very important programme, logistics and air maintenance op- time reconnaissance (MRMR) are aircraft that will fly off the for which the RFP was issued in erations at high altitude, offensive aircraft. In October 2010, the Navy's second aircraft carrier. July 2008. The technical evalua- operations and for surveillance. • Navy called for information (for The Navy is understood to be tion process has now taken over For complete versions log on the second time) from the global extremely keen that its new 38 months and has not yet been to: www.spsaviation.net & market to support the acquisition generation carriers (apart from concluded due to reasons which www.spsmai.com

36 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net newsDigest Military from February 13 to 17. The at a precisely calculated time. RoundUp Air Chief was accompanied With the target trajectory Quick Asia-Pacific by Vice Admiral Shekhar continuously updated by the Sinha, Chief of Integrated radar, the onboard guidance AgustaWestland Antony asks HAL to realign Defence Staff to Chairman, computer guided the AAD-05 its business processes Joint Chiefs of Staff Commit- interceptor missile towards • Lease Corporation International Defence Minister A.K. Antony tee, and other senior officials the target missile. (LCI), the aviation division of global has asked the Hindustan of MoD and the armed forces. conglomerate the Libra Group and Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to During his visit, the Air Chief KA-226T vs Fennec AgustaWestland, have signed an realign its business pro- called on Lawrence Wong, The outcome of the RFP to agreement covering the purchase of cesses for strategic alliances Minister of State for Defence. supply the Indian Army and a fleet of AW139, AW169 and AW189 and joint ventures, as also, He visited Air Combat Com- the Indian Air Force with 197 helicopters for a new division being to step up R&D efforts to mand of Republic of Singa- reconnaissance and surveil- set up by the lesser. The related remain globally competitive. pore Air Force where he met lance helicopters is expected contract, which also includes options, Addressing a meeting of the Lt General Neo Kian Hong, to be known soon as the trial is valued in excess of $400 million. Parliamentary Consultative Chief of Defence Force and phase is over. JSC Rosobo- Committee attached to his Major General Ng Chee Meng, ronexport is hoping that Rus- Airbus Ministry, Antony said HAL Chief of Singapore Air Force. sia’s Kamov Ka-226T multi- should partner with design purpose helicopter will win. • The A350 XWB’s new engine—the laboratories like DRDO and IAF conducts exercise Its rival is Eurocopter AS550 Rolls-Royce Trent XWB—has success- CSIR for the development of ‘Pralay’ in the Northeast C3 Fennec helicopter. Roso- fully made its maiden flight aboard indigenous aircraft, engines The IAF’s Eastern Air Com- boronexport states that its Airbus’ dedicated A380 flying-test-bed and systems. He said, what mand commenced Exercise bid has a distinct advantage aircraft. The aircraft took off from is more, HAL should adopt Pralay on February 29, in due to its "cumulative" effect Airbus facilities in Toulouse and best practices followed by the the Brahmaputra and rest of as the superior Ka-226T performed a flight of more than five global leaders in the field of the Eastern region of India. chopper is offered together hours during which the engine cov- project management, qual- The exercise involves joint with an offset programme ered a wide range of power settings ity control systems, vendor Army Air operations by the which will be attractive for at altitudes up to 43,000 ft. deployment and supply chain IAF’s Eastern Air Command India in many ways. management. and Eastern Command of the Bell-Boeing Indian Army. This is an an- Airbus Military signs India-Saudi Arabia Joint nual exercise aimed at testing contract for nine C295 • The Bell Boeing V-22 Program, a Committee on Defence the combat potential of the On February 15, Airbus Mili- strategic alliance between Boeing Defence Minister A.K. Antony Air Force in various roles tary signed a firm contract and Bell Helicopter-Textron, has along with the Defence Secre- such as air defence, ground with PT Dirgantara Indonesia announced that the US Marine Corps tary Shashi Kant Sharma, the support operations, counter (PT DI) to supply nine C295 has taken delivery of the first MV-22 Indian Ambassador Hamid air operations, electronic military transport aircraft for Osprey, produced with the new Block Ali Rao and other senior warfare, joint operations with delivery to the Indonesian C suite of design upgrades. The V-22 defence officers, visited Saudi the Army’ including special Ministry of Defence. The con- Block C design upgrade includes a Arabia for two days to shore operations by day and night. tract between PT DI and the new weather radar system, expanded up the defence ties. The Saudi Su-30 MKI, Mirage 2000, Ministry of Defence of Indo- capacity and effectiveness built into side was represented by his MiG-29, Jaguar, Bison, Mi-17, nesia was signed simultane- the EW system including additional counterpart Prince Salman An-32, C-130J, AWACS, flight ously, witnessed by Minister chaff/flare dispensers. Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the refuelling aircraft as well as of Defense Prof. Dr. Purnomo Saudi Deputy Minister of remotely piloted aircraft from Yusgiantoro, and the Chief of Bombardier Defence Prince Khalid Bin the Army have taken part in Armed Forces, Admiral Agus Sultan and senior function- the exercise. Suhartono, at a ceremony at • Bombardier Aerospace has an- aries of the Saudi Military the Singapore Air Show. The nounced that an airline, which has organisations. During the DRDO successfully Indonesian designation of the requested to remain unidentified, has meeting on February 14, intercepts missile aircraft will be CN295. signed a firm order for six CRJ1000 it was decided to set up a India’s DRDO has conducted NextGen regional jets and has taken Joint Committee on Defence a successful test launch of the Americas options on another 18. Based on the Cooperation to work out the interceptor missile where air list price, the firm order is valued contours of the relationship. defence missile AAD-05 has Edwards F-35A's first at approximately $297 million and Antony’s suggestion for the successfully hit the ballistic external weapons test could increase to approximately visit of a delegation from missile and destroyed it at a $1.32 billion should all 18 options Saudi Arabia to see India’s height of 15 km off the coast be exercised. defence production facilities of Orissa. A modified Prithvi in near future was accepted missile mimicking the bal- Brazil by Prince Salman. The latter listic missile was launched also accepted an invitation from ITR Chandipur. Radars • Brazil is "very likely" to choose from Antony to visit India located at different loca- France's Rafale fighter jet to refurbish later this year. tions tracked the incoming its air force, government sources say, ballistic missile. Interceptor a decision that would award one of IAF Chief leads delegation missile was ready to take-off the emerging-market world's most to Singapore at Wheelers Island. Guidance On February 16, the first coveted defence contracts to a jet Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. computers continuously com- external weapons test mis- whose future was in doubt only two Browne, Chief of the Air Staff, puted the trajectory of the sion was flown by an F-35A weeks ago. President Dilma Rousseff was on a four-day defence ballistic missile and launched conventional takeoff and and her top advisers believe that cooperation visit to Singapore AAD-05 Interceptor Missile landing (CTOL) aircraft at

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 37 newsDigest Appointments out. Integration works for the RoundUp wing started early February Quick Indian Air Force and both the horizontal and Air Marshal Rajinder Singh has stepped up the vertical tail planes, which Dassault Aviation's bid to sell at least from the post of SASO to take over as the Air have already been mated, 36 Rafales offers the best terms Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of the have just been moved to the among the three finalists. IAF’s Training Command at Bangalore. He re- final assembly station, known places Air Marshal D. Kukreja. The SASO’s post as Station 40, with the rest of Eurocopter has been filled by Air Marshal P.P. Reddy. the aircraft. • Milestone Aviation Group and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Eurocopter have announced an order R.K. Tyagi has taken over as Chairman of the Hindustan Civil Aviation for 16 EC225 aircraft valued at €362 Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with effect from March 2. Prior to million ($480 million) and will be the present appointment, Tyagi was holding the position of Asia-Pacific delivered over five years, starting in Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of India’s Pawan 2013. Eurocopter’s EC225 offers su- Hans Helicopter Ltd (PHHL) from May 2007 to February 2012. Boeing, Lion Air finalise perior speed, range, payload, optimal historic order safety and reliability. Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced the appoint- Eurocopter ment of Danny Milligan as Chief Executive of its UK-based Information Systems Europe business. • Eurocopter has expanded its The company has elected retired US Navy Admiral Gary EC175 order book with Noordzee Roughead to its Board of Directors. Roughead served as the Helikopters Vlaanderen’s (NHV) 29th Chief of Naval Operations. 10-aircraft acquisition of this new seven-tonne-category helicopter. Hawker Beechcraft Deliveries of the EC175s will begin The Board of Directors of Hawker Beechcraft, Inc. has an- next year for NHV and are to continue nounced the appointment of Robert S. “Steve” Miller as Chief On February 14, Boeing and through 2015, with the rotary-wing Executive Officer of the company. Bill Boisture, formerly Chief Jakarta-based Lion Air final- aircraft equipped for missions that in- Executive Officer of Hawker Beechcraft, Inc., will remain as ised a firm order for 201 737 clude transportation flights for the oil Chairman of Hawker Beechcraft Corporation. MAXs and 29 Next Genera- and gas sector. Future applications tion 737-900ERs (extended include search and rescue missions. range) during the recently Edwards Air Force Base, 2011, the Swiss Federal held Singapore Airshow. The Germany California, further expand- Council selected the Gripen agreement, first announced ing the programme’s flight E/F as preferred candidate last November in Indone- Germany’s leading engine test envelope. The weapons to replace their present F-5 sia, also includes purchase manufacturer MTU has been awarded load for this mission in- aircraft. Saab and Sweden rights for an additional 150 contracts worth €450 million volved carrying two air-to- are now in negotiations with airplanes. With orders for (about $592 million) for MTU at air AIM-9X missiles on the Switzerland, optimising the 230 airplanes valued at $22.4 the Singapore Airshow. The largest outboard wing stations. In complete package and pre- billion at list prices, this deal contracts were received from India addition, the F-35 carried paring for the acquisition of is the largest commercial and Qatar. Indian carrier GoAir signed two internal 2,000-pound Gripen E/F. airplane order ever in Boe- a firm order for 144 PW1100G-JM guided bombs (GBU-31) ing's history by both dollar engines. Qatar Airways awarded a and two advanced medium- First A400M for the French value and total number of contract covering the supply of 40 range air-to-air missiles Air Force airplanes. GP7000 turbofans for the A380s it (AIM-120) inside the two has on order. internal weapon bays. No Asia-Pacific leading demand weapons were delivered for new aircraft Helicopter Market during the mission. The Airlines in the Asia-Pacific F-35A fifth generation region will take delivery of • Boeing, Sikorsky, Eurocopter and fighter is designed to carry around 9,370 new aircraft Bell, the top four helicopter makers, up to 18,000 pounds on 10 over the next 20 years, ac- are focused on Asia as 1,000 orders weapon stations featuring cording to the latest market from countries spanning India to four weapon stations inside forecast by Airbus. Valued Korea are set to make it the fastest- two weapon bays, for maxi- at $1.3 trillion, the deliver- growing military chopper market mum stealth capability, and The first Airbus Military ies will account for 34 per by 2015. “Tenders in half a dozen an additional three weapon A400M for the French Air cent of all new aircraft with nations should produce sales worth stations on each wing. Force is taking shape in more than 100 seats enter- $10 billion over the next three years,” Seville (Spain), where its ing service worldwide over said Norbert Ducrot, Executive Vice Europe final assembly line (FAL) is the forecast period, with President for the Asia-Pacific region located. The final assembly the region overtaking North at Eurocopter. Gripen is the preferred process for this aircraft, America and Europe as the choice for Switzerland known as MSN7, started last world’s largest air transport India In a press conference on November. The nose and fu- market. The latest forecast for February 14, Swiss Defence selage are already integrated the region was presented on • Go Airlines (GoAir) has selected Minister Ueli Maurer reit- and the aircraft was recently February 15 at the Singapore Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1100G- erated Gripen E/F as the moved, on its landing gear, to Airshow by John Leahy, Chief JM engines for its order of 72 firm optimal solution for Swit- the workstation in which the Operating Officer, Customers, A320neo aircraft. The agreement zerland. On November 30, structural assembly is carried Airbus.

38 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net newsDigest Show Calendar traffic management (ATM) Dubai-based Emirates later RoundUp technology has taken place this month. Quick 14–18 March with Airbus’ dedicated A320 India Aviation 2012 test aircraft flying from 400th Learjet 60 XR aircraft represents 144 firm PW1100G-JM Begumpet Airport, Toulouse to Copenhagen enters service engines and is anticipated to include Hyderabad, India and Stockholm. The project Bombardier and Learjet cel- a PureSolution maintenance package. www.india-aviation.in is called I-4D (Initial-4D). ebrate a significant milestone Deliveries are scheduled in 2016. The main benefits of I-4D with the entry into service 26–27 March are a significant reduction of the 400th manufactured Indian Air Force

Air Power Middle East of fuel burn and C02 emis- Learjet 60 business jet. The Crowne Plaza Hotel, sions, in line with SESAR’s aircraft, a Learjet 60 XR • Marking a major milestone in the Muscat, Oman target to reduce the environ- model, was delivered to Ci- development of indigenous technol- www.meairpower.com mental impact per flight by népolis, a corporation based ogy in the defence sector the Defence 10 per cent, a decrease of in Morelia, Mexico, during a Minister A.K. Antony handed over 29 March–1 April delays and therefore shorter special ceremony in Morelia the first batch of the indigenously Defexpo India 2012 and smoother flights for on February 28. designed and developed surface-to- Pragati Maidan New Delhi, passengers. air missile, Akash, to the Indian Air India 250th C-130J Super Force at a function in Hyderabad on www.defexpoindia.in Hercules delivered March 3. Antony also handed over the Industry advanced light-weight torpedo, TAL to 4–7 April the Indian Navy. AEROEXPO MOROCCO Americas Menara Marrakech Airport, Italy Marrakech, Morocco Bell Helicopter introduces www.fr.aeroexpo-morocco. 525 “Relentless” helicopter • Italy seems certain to scale back com/accueil_en.html Bell Helicopter has unveiled its major investment in Lockheed the world’s first “super- Martin Corporation's F-35 joint 11–13 April medium” helicopter, Bell 525 strike fighter, heightening uncer- SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL Relentless, at the 2012 Heli- tainty over the troubled stealth jet's BUSINESS AVIATION SHOW Expo in Dallas, Texas. The On February 16, the 250th future. Defence Minister Giampaolo Shanghai Dachang Airbase, Bell 525 Relentless defines C-130J Super Hercules built Di Paola has said repeatedly that Shanghai, China the new “super medium” at the Lockheed Martin facility the country's originally planned www.shanghaiairshow.com/ product class-positioned at Marietta was delivered to order of the 131 supersonic war- SIBAS at the upper end of the Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. planes by 2018 was being reviewed medium class and designed This is the 15th C-130J deliv- because military spending cuts were 18–19 April to offer best-in-class capa- ered to the 317th Airlift Group necessary as part of Prime Minister ISR 2012 bilities to its customers. It at Dyess since 2010 and the Mario Monti's austerity plan to Copthorne Tara Hotel, features superior payload second of 11 aircraft to be shore up public accounts. Italy will London, UK and range, cabin and cargo delivered to the base in 2012. ask for about 30 fewer planes. www.smi-online.co.uk/events/ volumes and crew visibility. Dyess will have the distinction overview.asp?is=1&ref=3718 It can carry up to 16 passen- of being home to the largest C- Rolls-Royce gers and will be powered by 130J fleet in the world when 18–21 April world-class GE engines—the it receives its 28th Super • Rolls-Royce has won an order worth AERO FRIEDRICHSHAFEN GE CT7-2F1. The CT7-2F1 Hercules aircraft in 2013. $210 million, at list prices, from Fiji’s Messe Friedrichshafen, Fried- engine includes a state-of- national carrier Air Pacific for Trent richshafen, Germany the-art full authority digital 700 engines to power three Airbus www.aero-expo.com engine control plus ad- Space A330 aircraft. This is the first time vanced materials, primarily Air Pacific has selected Rolls-Royce 1–3 May in the turbine section. Europe engines and the contract includes Unmanned Aircraft long-term TotalCare service support. Systems Conference Boeing celebrates Vega completes its Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key 1,000th 777 qualification mission Russia Bridge, Arlington, Virginia, USA The newest member for Ari- www.uaseast.com anespace’s launcher family, • Minister for Defence of the Russian the lightweight Vega, success- Federation Anatoly Serdyukov and 14–16 May fully completed its qualifica- General Director of JSC “Sukhoi EUROPEAN BUSINESS tion flight today from French Company” Igor Ozar have signed the AVIATION CONVENTION & Guiana to demonstrate the state contract for delivery of 92 Su- EXHIBITION (EBACE) vehicle’s performance and 34 frontline bombers by 2020. PalExpo, Geneva, Switzerland payload services by deploying www.ebace.aero/2012 nine spacecraft into orbit. It Sikorsky carried Italy’s laser relativ- On March 2, Boeing and ity satellite (LARES), the • Sikorsky Aerospace Services has an- Europe more than 5,000 employ- small ALMASat-1 technology nounced the signing of a basic order- ees, suppliers, customers microsatellite demonstra- ing agreement with the Brunei Ministry Airbus takes ATM to the and government officials tor from the University of of Defence as part of Sikorsky's recent fourth dimension celebrated the 1,000th 777 Bologne, and seven CubeSats overarching sales contract to provide The world’s first flight at a special event at Everett, developed by more than 250 12 S-70i Black Hawk helicopters to using a four dimensional Washington. The 1,000th 777 university students from six the Royal Brunei Air Force. optimised and upgraded air jetliner will be delivered to different countries. •

Issue 3 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 39 LastWord Muse over Expatriates

eport by a Court of Inquiry headed by the for- mer Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal B.N. Gokhale on the crash of Air India Express Boeing 737 at Man- galore airport on May 22, 2010, is now available in Hopefully, the authorities public domain. The court has recommended that a concerned will heed the thorough scrutiny of expatriate pilots to be carried out by the regulatory authorities before they are cleared for em- recommendations of the Rployment by the airlines in India. The exercise must include “flight safety issues for the entire flying career as well as anomalies dur- Court of Inquiry and ing training from all the previous employees”. The court has held take necessary steps to the highly experienced Commander, Captain Z. Glusica, a British national of Serbian origin, responsible for the accident that was a ensure that the safety result of an “unstabilised” approach and failure on his part to take of the passengers is not corrective action even when repeatedly advised by the First Officer. The acute shortage of pilots, especially Commanders, in the jeopardised by vested wake of the boom in the airline industry in India that began in interests perpetuating 2004 leading to rapid expansion of capacity, left the airline man- agements with no option but to employ expatriate pilots fill the dependence on expatriate void and keep their aircraft airborne. Although there was no pilots dearth of pilots in the country holding Commercial Pilot Licence, these did not have the experience levels to be trained as Com- manders soon enough. The airlines therefore found it expedient to hire experienced pilots from abroad who already had the requisite trol or in the cockpit, the latter compromising crew endorsement to fly as Commanders. At one point in time, the total resource management, so critical to air safety. number of expatriate pilots flying with airlines in India was close Since their induction in 2005, there have been to a thousand. With tax-free salaries and lavish perks, the emolu- several accidents and incidents in India involving ex- ments offered to expatriates were substantially higher than those patriate pilots flying as Commanders, raising serious of their local counterparts. Apart from the cost-to-company for hir- doubts about their professional capability. It must be ing expatriates being exorbitant, the practice impeded professional mentioned that expatriate pilots who are available growth of Indian pilots aspiring to be Commanders. However, the for employment in India are either unemployed or more serious implication of inducting expatriate pilots as Com- for some reason unemployable in their own country. manders in large numbers was the impact on air safety. It would be reasonable to assume that these pilots, Pilots from abroad are hired by Indian carriers through recruit- though qualified on record, are unlikely to be from ing agencies that have representatives located in India. Hefty com- the top echelons of this professional group but rather missions are paid to the recruiting agencies and their Indian repre- from the lower segment and perhaps even those re- sentatives for both the initial contracts and renewal annually. Thus jected. It is little wonder that even the highly experi- induction of expatriates is also driven by powerful vested interests enced expatriate pilots have been frequently involved which despite frequent rhetoric, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has in accidents and incidents such as landing not only not been able to counter. Pilots come from all parts of the world, on the runway not-in-use but sometimes even from from South America to East Europe and from Africa to the Central the opposite direction. But perhaps the most glaring Asian Republics. Several expatriate pilots hailed from countries manifestation of the lurking hazard is provided by with dubious standards in training, but sailed past the regulatory the disaster at Mangalore airport in May 2010, in authorities with relative ease without the stringent scrutiny that which 158 lives were lost. Indian pilots are usually subjected to. Besides, expatriate pilots Hopefully, the authorities concerned will heed the were not required to undergo medical examination in India, the recommendations of the Court of Inquiry and take implications of which are too obvious to be stated. This anomaly necessary steps to ensure that the safety of the pas- has now been removed deterring expatriates with doubtful medi- sengers is not jeopardised by vested interests per- cal condition. Many of the pilots were found to be weak in spoken petuating dependence on expatriate pilots. SP

Photogra p h: mangesh English leading to problems in communication with air traffic con- — Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

40 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net See us at Defexpo India 2012, Hall 14 Booth 14.26

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