III/2020 Aerospace & Defence Review SU-30MKI ONLY THE BEST www.irkut.com Combating the Covid-19 III/2020 III/2020 Aerospace & Defence Review 18 “Prioritising Critical 27 “Hand-in-Hand” Requirements” SU-30MKI ONLY THE BEST was imposed in India. This ‘Vayu-on- Combating the Covid-19 www.irkut.com the-spot’ report highlights events where major international companies Aircrew getting into Jaguar two-seater showcased their expertise with P&W (photo by Simon Watson) announcing progress at its customer In midst of the Covid-19 situation, Air India’s Armed Forces have been training centre. Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Chief of working around-the-clock to provide the Air Staff IAF interviewed with select medical and logistics support to Grim Covid-19 Indian media, both print and electronic contain the Covid-19 pandemic, 67 on 18 May 2020. Not surprisingly the the Armed Forces Medical Services Impact EDITORIAL PANEL first questions were focused on the (AFMS) deploying their resources in MANAGING EDITOR IAF’s status during the pandemic, and aid of civilian authorities, establishing as to how the Service was affected quarantine facilities around the country. Vikramjit Singh Chopra operationally. EDITORIAL ADVISOR Saluting the ‘Corona ‘Flying Bullets’ 30 Estimates from IATA indicate worsening Admiral Arun Prakash 21 Warriors’ of the country-wise impact from Resurrected Covid-19 in the Asia-Pacific region. In EDITORIAL PANEL a related piece, the Covid-19 effect has Pushpindar Singh impacted on 25 million jobs which are Air Marshal Brijesh Jayal at risk with many airline shutdowns. Dr. Manoj Joshi IADE 2020 in Tunisia Lt. Gen. Kamal Davar 77 Air Marshal M. Matheswaran Cdr M Nirmal Nitin Konde On 27 May 2020, the Indian Air Force At a widely televised press conference received the first Tejas LCA Mk.1 at New Delhi on 1 May 2020, the CDS Sayan Majumdar (FOC) aircraft at Air Force Station General Bipin Rawat accompanied by Richard Gardner (UK) Sulur (near Coimbatore) from HAL all Service Chiefs addressed the nation Reuben Johnson (USA) and, with it, stood up No.18 Squadron to acknowledge efforts of India’s Corona This first International Aerospace & (Flying Bullets) which is the second Warriors and vowed “to continue the Bertrand de Boisset (France) Defence Exhibition (IADE 2020) took unit (after No.45 Squadron) with the support of (those) front-line warriors place in Tunisia’s Maghreb region of Dr Nick Evesenkin (Russia) indigenously-developed and built light over the passage of the crisis”. North Africa, the first on this continent. Tamir Eshel (Israel) combat aircraft. Although a somewhat modest event, ‘Lifeline Udan’ this has spurred the organisers to plan ADVERTISING & MARKETING MANAGER ‘A Tiger in the Sky’ 34 ahead. Husnal Kaur 25 Also : Post Covid-19; Navantia’s BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER online event; General Atomics Premjit Singh ‘Launching into the Future’; The MPF programme; Continuing Developments at Saab; Iran’s As directed by the Ministry of Civil Weapons of Deterrence; The F21 PUBLISHED BY Aviation, more than 700 flights Artemis programme; USN awaits concerning Covid-19 were operated by Super Hornet Block III; MiG- Vayu Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. Air India, Alliance Air and some private 21 in Croatia; Dutch ‘Lifeliners’; E-52, Sujan Singh Park, carriers as on 15 May 2020, with some Double (Dutch) Anniversary; ‘The Sayan Majumdar reviews the status 1000 tonnes of cargo transported over Forgotten War’. New Delhi 110 003 India of HAL’s Light Combat Helicopter a total distance of about 600,000km. Tel: +91 11 24617234 (LCH) which is projected to meet Fax: +91 11 24628615 requirements of the Indian Army and Regular features : e-mail: [email protected] Air Force and has “significant export 36 Wings India 2020 Commentary, Opinion, Viewpoint, e-mail: [email protected] potential”. Development costs of This biennial civil aviation Strategy, Aviation & Defence in India, the LCH have been “relatively low” and aerospace show took place at World Aviation & Defence News, compared to that of other helicopter Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad from 12 Ancient Aviator Anecdotes, Vayu 25 Printed at Aegean Offset Printers types in its class. to 14 March just before the “lockdown” Years Back, Tale Spin. The opinions expressed in the articles published in the Vayu Aerospace & Defence Review do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Publishers. Follow us on @ReviewVayu Visit us at: www.vayuaerospace.in C O M M E N T A R Y “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” to travel to hospitals for fear of contracting Covid-19 or found it impossible to reach hospitals or receive treatment. he Prime Minister has announced a special economic package It has been observed that traffic accidents and violent crime, Tand gave a clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat, noting that also domestic violence, have registered a sharp decline thanks to this package, taken together with earlier announcements by the the lockdown. Therefore, the number of those who die every day government during the Covid crisis and decisions taken by RBI, should be coming down. is to the tune of Rs 20 lakh crore, which is equivalent to almost But it is likely to have gone up on account of the collateral 10% of India’s GDP. He said that the package will provide a much damage of fighting Covid-19. As our editorial argued, it makes needed boost towards achieving Atmanirbhar Bharat. sense to divide the country into containment regions – areas that The package will also focus on land, labour, liquidity and laws, pose the risk of spread of Covid-19, meaning individual residences will cater to various sections including the cottage industry, MSMEs, of patients or clusters of residences if that is called for to identify labourers, middle class, industries, among others. The details of the a perimeter for control – and the rest where life resumes, albeit to contours of the package would be provided by the Finance Minister, the new normal of safety protocols at the workplace and during “in the coming few days.” commutes. Talking about the positive impact of reforms like the Janadhan- Those who have been able to work from home reasonably Aadhar-Mobile (JAM) trinity and others, brought about in the last efficiently should be encouraged to continue as they have been. six years, the Prime Minister said that several bold reforms are Public transport capacity and shopping hours must be increased, needed to make the country self-reliant, so that the impact of crisis rather than reduced as some states have been doing, to reduce such as the Covid, can be negated in future, and include supply crowding. India must get back to work at the earliest, to save chain reforms for agriculture, rational tax system, simple and clear incomes and lives. laws, capable human resource and a strong financial system. These reforms will promote business, attract investment, and further From The Economic Times strengthen Make in India. The Prime Minister continued in that self-reliance will prepare China’s syndromes the country for tough competition in the global supply chain, and it is important that the country wins this competition. The same he recent skirmishes between China and India in Ladakh and has been kept in mind while preparing the package. It will not TSikkim underline the need to understand Beijing’s motives and only increase efficiency in various sectors but also ensure quality. respond to them appropriately so that mistakes — most notably Highlighting their contribution to the country, the Prime Minister in responding poorly to signals in the run-up to the 1962 border said that the package will also focus on empowering the poor, war — are not repeated. Since the Chinese have already moved labourers, migrants, etc., both from organised and unorganised a few kilometres into previously uncontested Indian territory, sectors. He observed that the crisis has taught us the importance getting them to vacate and reverting to status quo ante can be of local manufacturing, local market and local supply chains. All done only diplomatically. Speculation on China’s motives for this our demands during the crisis were met ‘locally’. Now, it’s time escalatory behaviour has so far focused on Beijing responding to to be vocal about the local products and help these local products India improving its border infrastructure, especially in upgrading become global, he said. and linking border roads to military bases further inland. But these upgrades have been going on for some time, and, despite this, PM Modi’s address to the Nation on 12 May 2020 significant asymmetry remains between the quality and sophistication of Chinese and Indian border infrastructure. It is possible that part “End the Lockdown … so as to of the provocation is on account of the recent move by the Indian government in closing the automatic route for Chinese investment. Save Lives” It is equally possible that this can be read as a warning that India, he coronavirus kills, on that there is no dispute. But the which has already tilted towards the US in the area of defence, Tlockdown meant to soften the killing power of the virus should not join the Washington-led chorus of condemning China’s might also be causing a large number of deaths, which might not handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, and desist from supporting the immediately be linked to the virus or the lockdown but could end reinstatement of Taiwan’s status in the World Health Organisation. up being quite significant. It makes sense to end the lockdown and Indeed, the fact that China has moved into both Ladakh and resort to test, trace and quarantine strategy, if the goal is to save Sikkim suggests that this could well be part of a larger foreign policy lives.