By: Vivek Raghuvanshi
BANGALORE, India — The Indian private sector’s ambitions to build large military aerospace platforms and other major systems are unrealistic because of its continued dependence on foreign original equipment manufacturers for critical technologies, according to a top Indian Ministry of Defence official.
BANGALORE, India — The Indian private sector’s ambitions to build large military aerospace platforms and other major systems are unrealistic because of its continued dependence on foreign original equipment manufacturers for critical technologies, according to a top Indian Ministry of Defence official.
The private sector is also hobbled by a lack of in-house capability and inadequate funding, the official added.
Under the government’s Make in India initiative, the domestic private sector aims to bag aerospace orders around $50 billion in the next 15 years to manufacture single- and twin-engine fighters, helicopters, transport aircraft, UAVs, electronic warfare systems, radar systems, missile systems, and other critical technologies.
“Currently, [the] Indian private sector only possesses random engineering capabilities including design and analyses, aero structures, component-level manufacturing, and assembly capability. All the big players are fighting among themselves for major programs and there is [a] complete lack of synergy and complementary/consortium-oriented approach to aerospace programs. This factor is further complicated by very few defense orders being handed out to the private sector,” the official said.
“The big private players are all trying to cut each other in every [aerospace] program by offering unrealistic production-related prices. In [the] current situation, it is highly unlikely that without any long-term commitment any of the private foreign OEM partnerships will fructify,” the official added, referring to original equipment manufacturer coalitions.
Read the full story at DefenseNews