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ABOUT EVENT

The world is passing through turbulent times and the present generation would not have ever imagined that they would go through a pandemic in their lifetime. With Covid-19 wrecking havoc in more ways than one it is but natural that many, if not most, plans of almost all countries have been severely upset and have had to be curtailed or modified in some way or the other. The biggest blow, of course, has been the huge number of lives lost; an equally important setback has been felt in the economies of most countries leading to a ripple effect in other areas of daily life. The aviation sector has been severely impacted with a reduction in demand and consequently the production output of OEMs and their suppliers. However, the security threats have not diminished and, in fact, there is an uptick in tensions in many more areas around the world, as seen in the South China Sea, Western Pacific, West Asia and Northern Africa.

India’s security challenges have also become more complex in the past year due China’s incursion across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along its northern frontiers. Despite the best intentions of Indian leadership that has wanted peace along the LAC while the vexed boundary dispute is negotiated by diplomats, the violation of jointly formulated confidence building measures and protocols by China has turned back the clock by decades. The Line of Control (LoC) along the Western borders has also been active and the much debated scenario of a two-front threat no longer appears a theoretical construct. With austerity measures (due Covid-19 effect) being implemented and funds being diverted (rightly so) to the social sector and to beef up the economy at the grass roots level, the defence allocation for capital acquisitions, which is already insufficient in many aspects, may take a hit. The government, on its part, has re-emphasised its thrust towards indigenisation by launching its aatmanirbhar abhiyan (self-dependence) campaign and to buy from local entrepreneurs as much as possible. The draft of the proposed DAP 2020 is in the public domain and the multitude of suggestions forwarded by individuals, trade bodies and manufacturers are being studied. The Indian Air Force, meanwhile, is at an all-time low of 30 Squadrons and despite the acceptance of the need to purchase twelve Su-30MKI and 21 MiG-29 the numbers will take many years to build back to 39 Squadrons. The IAF has placed its full trust in HAL and DRDO to buy Tejas Mk1, Tejas MK1A and is hoping that the promised Tejas Mk2 and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) would meet their claimed capabilities time schedules. The 114 fighter aircraft project of the IAF is eagerly awaited for two reasons; one, to make up the numbers in IAF’s fighter inventory and, second, to bring in modern technology, The government’s intentions appear to be clear – this project would have to have its manufacturing done in India; the challenge before the contract negotiators would be to ensure that it does not become another project with just a transfer of manufacturing technology. The Indian Aerospace Industry, both public and private, thus, have a challenging few decade ahead of them.

In this uniquely different environment, where does Indian aerospace industry find itself? To state that they have a long way ahead of them would be an understatement. The Centre for Air Power Studies and Confederation of Indian Industry, and now Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), have been discussing for the past fourteen years, avenues of energizing Indian Aerospace Industry through the medium of an annual international conference. The 2018 edition had the sub-theme, ‘Mapping the Change,’ while last year the optimism in the air was reflected in it transforming to, ’Flight Plan for the Future.’ The upheaval brought-in by Covid-19 forces us to take stock of how the pandemic has, and would, affect the Indian aerospace industry. Accordingly, the 2020 edition of the event has been titled ‘15th International Conference on Energising Indian Aerospace Industry: Challenges in the New Environment’.

The Conference will bring together Government officials, serving Armed Forces officers, captains of industry (both Indian and foreign), MSMEs, certification agencies, academics and the users to discuss and arrive at action points that could assist policy makers.