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Aero India 2007 exhibition launches

Ground technicians of the US-based Pacific Air Forces Demonstration Team make final checks on a US Air Force F-18 combat aircraft, as another aircraft soars in the background, at the Jakkur Air Force base, a day prior to the opening of the International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition, Aero India 2007, in Bangalore on Tuesday. PHOTO: EPA

India kicked off the Bangalore air show yesterday with a spectacular flying display by its air force, seeking overseas partnerships in its quest to match the nation's increasing economic clout with military might.

"India is poised to take a quantum jump -- both in terms of the economy and the military," Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony said at the opening of the show at the Yelahanka Air Base. "We are in the process of acquiring fresh capabilities for all three wings of our armed forces."

More than 500 companies from India and overseas, including commercial and military planemarkers such as Boeing and Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Dassault, as well as manufacturers of aircraft engines and flight control systems, are participating in Aero India.

They have been drawn by India's burgeoning military ambition and the world's fastest-growing air travel market. An economy expanding at an annual rate of nine percent or more may result in military and commercial orders worth tens of billions of dollars.

Antony underlined India's ambition to play a "more dominant role in the 21st century not only in Asia but also in the world" by boosting its domestic defense industry.

The minister sought "strategic and long-term relationships" between Indian defense companies and overseas investors.

India has opened up its once jealously guarded defense industry to overseas investors while capping any stake they take at 26 percent and allowed manufacturing of military items under license.

The show also featured a glimpse of India's military might, with a display of aerial acrobatics by a mix of Russian-made Sukhois, French Mirages and British Jaguars as well as the locally built Tejas fighter.

Up for grabs in the coming months is an Indian air force tender for 126 fighter jets to replace its ageing fleet of MiG-21s.

Those in the running for the deal, estimated to be worth about US$9 billion, include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Russia's MiG-29 and the Gripen, made by Sweden's Saab.

The European defense and aircraft group EADS is touting its Eurofighter and France's Dassault its fourth-generation Rafale.

A spokesman for Dassault Aviation said that the company would soon be offering 40 Rafale planes to India, independently of the tender for the 126 fighters.

Companies such as Boeing and Airbus are also hoping to snap up more commercial plane orders in a country that may post annual growth of 7.7 percent in air travel through to 2025, the fastest pace for any single market, according to an Airbus forecast.

A growing middle class is being served by an increasingly diverse patchwork of airlines such as Kingfisher, Jet, Spicejet and Air Deccan.

Industry estimates suggest traffic in India could double by 2010 to 50 million passenger journeys a year.

Boeing expects India's requirements over the next two decades to be 856 new planes -- four times the size of the current commercial fleet -- worth a total of US$72 billion.

Airbus forecast recently that India would need 1,100 planes over that same period, worth some US$105 billion, while both companies say improvements to the creaky aviation infrastructure would bring even faster growth.
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