Aviation

Maintenance & Repair Services for Corporate Aviation Pg 14 • Indian Air Force Fighter
Upgrades Pg 19 • ICAO Safety Management System and Indian Civil Aviation Pg 22

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ISSUE 3 • 2008

UNMANNED
A.T.V.
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Table of Contents

Aviation
SP’s AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION
Regular Departments
2 A Word from Editor
News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India.
3 NewsWithViews
- Air China vs Air India
ISSUE 3 • 2008
- Brussels to Sydney on
Military hypersonic wings
12 OPERATIONS - FAA cracks safety whip
DEFENDING HOME TURF 6 InFocus
19 UPGRADES - Till the next fog
SURGING AHEAD 7 Forum
- Airlines in a daze
24 REGION
A GATHERING FORCE 28 NewsDigest
32 LastWord
Civil - Air India head in place
15 BUSINESS AVIATION
HEALING AT HOME
22 FLIGHT SAFETY
9
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26 BUSINESS AVIATION Jules Verne docks with

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From a ‘Space Truck’ to a ‘Space Garbage

NETJETS FLIES INTO INDIA the International Space
Disposal System’, from an ISS ‘supplier’
Station—unmanned,
to an ISS ‘sustainer’—remarkable in size
Cover Story and technology, Jules Verne could usher in
the so-called Revolution in Space Affairs.
on automated mode and
dot on schedule. ��������
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9 SPACE
Photo credit: ESA ����� ������

JULES VERNE’S UNMANNED VOYAGE SP's Avn Cover 3 0f 08.indd 1 4/5/08 5:01:42 PM

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NEXT ISSUE: Joint Strike Fighter—An Update

Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 1

A Word from Editor
Exciting times in the aviation
industry call for serious introspection
of operations and infrastructure.
Amid the debuts and distinctions,
appraisal of prevalent policies is
essential for a smooth flight.Are we
ready?Yes.Are we prepared? May be.

G
roundbreaking endeavours inevitably carry el- In Focus and Forum zeroes in on this menace before the
ements of dogged uncertainty. There’s no say- clear summer skies drive away the harrowing memories of
ing until the last minute whether the effort will air travel on fogged out winter mornings.
fructify or backfire as merely foolish ambition. Fumbling for a solution to its myriad problems, Air In-
Presumptuous it would perhaps be to assume dia is now looking to write a new chapter under the stew-
that a sense of utter relief engulfed and ousted the exuber- ardship of its new CMD Raghu Menon. Striking an optimis-
ance of achievement, but certainly the minders of the un- tic note in the Last Word, it finely balances out the critique
manned Jules Verne heaved a collective sigh of deliverance in the News With Views on the airline’s rather bleak affairs
when it docked with the ISS as scheduled on April 3. His- vis-à-vis the flourishing Air China which posted a whop-
tory was created but not without some anxious moments ping net profit of CNY4.23 billion ($600 million or Rs 2,406
when a day after the launch, with the ATV coursing in the crore) in 2007. Quite by coincidence, Hall of Fame show-
low earth orbit, the mission came close to being a cropper cases the vision and vigour of the beleaguered airline’s
when an electronic fault sent the entire propulsion system founder, J.R.D. Tata.
crashing. An overnight recovery operation saved the day. An engrossing account of the growth and acquisition
If small steps help gain the momentum for a giant leap, programmes of China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force,
the MRO industry for corporate aviation in India is going together with an attractive pictorial layout of the Platinum
through precisely that phase. A service centre for Hawkers Jubilee celebrations of the IAF’s No. 1 Squadron on April 1
inaugurated recently at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International at Gwalior, round up the edition.
Airport gave an indication of things to come even as con-
cerns are raised about whether the boom in the country’s
corporate aviation centre is matched by a corresponding
establishment of MRO services. Perhaps not yet. But there’s
no denying the government seems to have taken some
steps to encourage the setting up of MROs in India. While
maintaining the 49 per cent FDI limit in domestic airlines,
and up to 74 per cent stake in non-scheduled, chartered
and cargo airlines that do not have any participation by
foreign airlines, it has permitted a 100 per cent FDI for
MRO service providers.
Yet another India debut, this time in private jet travel,
was crafted by NetJets. The world’s leading private jet op-
erator declared a strategic partnership with Ashish Chor-
dia, CEO of Shreyans, on March 19. The company is now
poised to offer business jet services to Indian corporates
and business bigwigs. We bring you the details of the wings
on offer, and the costs involved.
Cost considerations are never far when it comes to air-
lines functioning on tight budgets, so much so that it is one
of the major deterrents for operators to train pilots on the
latest Instrument Landing System. Consequently, chaos in
flight operations posed by fog during the winter season and Jayant Baranwal
other weather phenomenon, such as dust-in-suspension or Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
heavy rain, has assumed seemingly perennial proportions.

2 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008

NewsWithViews
AIR CHINA VS AIR INDIA
Driven by a growing domestic economy and the appreciation of Yuan, Air China and Air Macau parent Air China Ltd posted a net profit of CNY4.23
billion ($600 million or Rs 2,406 crore) in 2007, up 57.3 per cent over the CNY2.69 billion reported in 2006, on a 14.2 per cent lift in operating
revenue to CNY51.33 billion ($7 billion or Rs 29,195 crore). In addition to a “handsome investment return”, the company credited “improved operat-
ing efficiency” and growing number of passengers for the result. The Beijing-based carrier added five new international routes during the year as well
as a handful of domestic services. It expanded its fleet from 191 aircraft to 220, excluding Air Macau.
VIEWS
P
eople’s Republic of China’s (PRC) state-owned com-
mercial airline, Air China Ltd is the flag carrier of the
PRC and the only Chinese airline to fly the national flag
on its entire fleet. Its logo consists of a phoenix in the
form of the acronym VIP. It operates 5,090 flights each week
worldwide. On June 20, 2007, Air China was ranked 461 out of
the world’s ‘Top 500 Brands’, an accolade in which Air China
is the only airline known to be on the top 500. The ranking
reflected the passengers’ enthusiasm for its service, its glob-
al network to and from China, and the stability of the airline
which has earned a consistent profit over the past six years. In
real terms, Air China Ltd is currently
the world’s largest carrier by market
capitalisation. Splendid, but how did
all this happen?
Air China was established and
started operations on July 1, 1988.
Formerly the Beijing-based interna-
tional carrier division of Civil Aviation
Administration of China (CAAC), it
was renamed in 1988 when the Chi-
nese government decided to split the
operating divisions of CAAC into two
distinct airlines, each with its own no-
menclature. Air China was based in
Beijing and given the chief responsibil-
ity for international flights. It was also
granted complete autonomy to run as
a corporate house. It is little wonder
that the airline posted an impressive
profit of $106 million on revenues of
ILLUSTRATION: RATAN SONAL
$383 million within a year of starting
operations. At its launch in 1988, Air
China operated 32 international routes
to 31 destinations, and also connected
30 cities within China. (The carrier had
only 6,000 employees at the time). In
less than 10 years after its inception,
Air China’s fleet of aircraft had grown
to 65 aircraft and it was flying 144 routes overall, posting sales
of $1.38 billion in 1997. When it faced a downturn caused by
the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and to demonstrate
the airline’s faith in its ‘Y2K’ preparations, Air China’s chief
Wang Li’an and other top officers personally piloted several
flights at the turn of the millennium. This boosted the airline’s
image considerably in the eyes of the public. Through a se-
ries of mergers and sound business practices, the airline has
risen to its present position with an impressive fleet totaling
close to 220 aircraft. Looking into 2008, Air China is well posi-
tioned to capture the tremendous opportunities presented by
the coming Olympic Games and the continued rapid economic
growth. Some financial quarters have forecast that the airline
will boost its net earnings to CNY5.89 billion ($833 million or
Rs 3,340 crore) in 2008 and to CNY6.91 billion ($972 million
or Rs 3,898 crore) in 2009.
In contrast, how has Air India fared after it was converted
into a public sector unit (PSU)? Conceived and operated so bril-
liantly by the Tatas under the legendry Bharat Ratna awardee
J.R.D. Tata, Air India, considered one of the world’s best in-
ternational airlines in the 1960s, slowly got overtaken by the
public sector work culture and flawed
manpower policies and unionism. It
had almost hit a nadir but for the recent
progressive policies of the government
in the field of civil aviation and the re-
sulting competition which stirred it to
pull up its socks for sheer survival and
retrace its path from the point of no re-
turn. The two state-owned airlines also
stand merged as a single entity for bet-
ter productivity and efficiency. But Air
India has to cover many miles before it
can realise Civil Aviation Minister Pra-
ful Patel’s dream of a mega carrier with
the precision, reliability and in-flight
service of the bygone era. Air China
has consistently posted rising percent-
ages in profits while Air India is beset
with negative growth. In 2005-06, Air
India posted operating losses of Rs 400
crore ($100 million) which reportedly
rose to Rs 450 crore ($112.5 million) in
2006-07. While 2007-08 figures have
yet to be revealed, it is known that Air
India has asked the government for ad-
ditional Rs 1,000 crore ($250 million)
to facilitate merger consolidation.
But is there a silver lining on the
horizon? Air India is well on its way for a major expansion
and modernisation with the induction of brand new aircraft,
67 from the Boeing Company and 43 from the Airbus fam-
ily. Air India can certainly regain its lost glory. But for that,
it would have to be managed and run professionally either
through the privatisation route as suggested earlier or, by
granting it full autonomy as is being done in the case of Air
China; sans irrational unionism, political dominance or bu-
reaucratic interference. SP
— Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia
Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 3
NewsWithViews

BRUSSELS TO SYDNEY ON HYPERSONIC WINGS

A British team has designed a hypersonic passenger aeroplane that could one day fly passengers between Europe and Australia in less than five hours. The A2 aero-
plane designed by Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines would carry 300 passengers at a top speed of almost 4.000 mph. The company claims the aircraft could be
operating within 25 years and ticket prices would be comparable with existing business class tickets, currently around $5,000 (Rs 2 lakh). Further, the A2 is capable
of sustained travel at Mach 5, or 3,800 mph. Reaction Engines Managing Director Alan Bond said, “The A2 is designed to leave Brussels international airport, fly
quietly and subsonically out into the North Atlantic at Mach 0.9 before reaching Mach 5.0 across the North Pole and heading over the Pacific to Australia.”

VIEWS

D
oes the Concorde—perhaps the only commercially signs whereas; the A2 design concept directly leapfrogs into
and profitably exploited supersonic transport (SST) hypersonic travel. Under a project called the LAPCAT (Long-
in the world till now—finally have a successor? If Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies) be-
statements emanating from Reaction Engines, de- ing funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), companies
velopers of the Scimitar, are to be believed, it may become a such as the ‘Reaction Engines’ are encouraged to push the
reality not too far in the future. boundaries of commercial air travel using technologies nor-
The Concorde was designed in the 1960s, combining mally associated with space travel.
the efforts of British and French aviation companies. With At the core of the A2 programme is the Scimitar vari-
its delta-wing, cigar-shaped fuselage, four under-belly en- able or combined cycle engine (VCE) to meet the contradic-
gines with massive air intakes, and a long and narrow nose tory requirements in the different flight regimes of a hyper-
which drooped during take-offs sonic cruise airliner. Of the two
and landings, the Concorde was possible concepts, turbine and
indeed a majestic aircraft. The rocket, the Scimitar uses the
Americans were so envious of Turbine Based Combined Cycle
the aircraft that initially its op- (TBCC) engine, or a double by-
eration out of New York was for- pass turbofan ramjet with liquid
bidden, annulling the very route hydrogen as fuel. These engines
(London/Paris-New York and can accelerate a vehicle from
back) for which it was designed. runway up to its cruise speed
Subsequently, shunned by the of Mach 5 or so. During a nomi-
US airlines on grounds of envi- nal take-off, the by passes are
ronmental and noise pollution closed, but are to be opened in
concerns, both Washington DC subsonic cruise and also during
and New York were served by some augmented acceleration/
British Airways and Air France climb phases. Above M 2.5 the
from London and Paris, respec- engine starts transition to first
tively. The aircraft served for fan windmilling. At M 3, the first
more than three decades and, fan is in full windmilling with
contrary to general belief, prof- unthrottled core engine. Above
itably before it was retired from M 3 turbofan throttles down
service in the wake of an only with transition to RAM mode. At
accident on type in France, the M 3.5, turbofan shuts down and
effects of 9/11 terrorist attacks full ramjet mode becomes avail-
ILLUSTRATION: MAMTA

in the US and other political and able for cruise speed of M 5.

economic factors.
Although the Concorde has
retired, human desire to fly
faster and yet faster cannot be
curbed for ever. The quest for
supersonic travel has continued
unabated. US, Russia, France and Japan are all involved in
the field of futuristic SST designs. Apart from supersonic
airliners another area that has seen intense research inter-
est is the supersonic business jet (SSBJ). Sukhoi and Gulf-
stream co-investigated such aircraft in the mid 1990s, as
did Dassault Aviation in the early 2000s. Aerion Corpora-
tion’s Aerion SBJ and Tupolev’s Tu-444 are the main two
current SSBJ projects.
But all these projects are limited to less than Mach 2 de-
At 142 metres long, the A2
Mach-5 vehicle will be roughly
twice the length of Airbus A380.
It will have a wing span of 41 m.
At a MTOW of 400 tonnes, cruis-
ing at 25-28 km altitudes it will
be able to carry 300 passengers to a distance of 18,700
km (Brussels-Sydney) in four hours and 40 minutes, includ-
ing the time spent under ATC control/subsonic portion of
the flight. Sounds incredible by today’s standards but Alan
Bond, who sees no reason why future generations cannot
make day trips to Australia from Europe, has this to say,
“Our work shows that it is possible technically; now it’s up
to the world to decide if it wants it.” Coming aboard? SP
— Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia

4 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008

NewsWithViews

FAA CRACKS SAFETY WHIP

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has directed federal aviation inspectors to ensure all commercial airlines operating in the US are in compliance
with its safety standards, regulations and other directives. Calling the inspection order “unprecedented”, Reuters reports that “the FAA wants a snapshot
of compliance with an array of safety directives issued over the years that required inspections of other maintenance work”, especially on older Boeing
737 jets. The order comes close on the heels of the FAA levying a $10.2 million (Rs 41 crore) fine on Southwest Airlines for safety inspection lapses.
Southwest Airlines later grounded more than 40 of its aircraft until it could guarantee compliance with federal safety guidelines.

VIEWS

I
t may appear somewhat strange that Southwest Airlines, United Airlines alone outsourced 45 per cent of maintenance
America’s sixth largest carrier based in Dallas, should task in 2006, a three-fold increase since 1998. With around
have failed to carry out mandatory structural safety 100 inspectors available to cover nearly 700 MROs outside the
inspections on some of its aircraft used for scheduled US, the FAA is clearly not in a position to effectively monitor,
passenger flights. The airline had skipped mandatory checks conduct surprise inspections or ensure foolproof oversight.
for structural cracks caused by metal fatigue. On inspection, Under the circumstances, dilution in quality is inevitable.
several airplanes were found with this serious flaw in the fu- Other problems plague the system. Given the magnitude
selage, conjuring horrors of the Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 ac- of the task before the FAA and the available manpower, more
cident in 1988 in which a portion of the fuselage ripped off in often than not, scrutiny is limited to mere inspection of doc-
flight, leading to tragic loss of life. uments. So long as an airline’s documentation is complete,
Apart from penalising the er- inspectors are satisfied and may
rant airline, the Federal Aviation not pry further. Besides, over a
Administration (FAA) ordered period of time, the FAA inspectors
audit of all other airlines to verify begin to function on the basis of
the degree of legally enforceable trust, accepting data provided by
regulatory compliance across airlines on face value. Some in-
the airline industry in the US. spectors may also develop undue
The process is scheduled to be cordiality with airlines and ignore
completed by end-June. By all deviation of violations which in
accounts, the FAA mandate pres- their opinion appear minor. Also,
ents a Herculean task as in the large airlines have formidable
next three months the inspectors political and financial clout. An
would be required to verify com- inspector may find his position or
pliance of 10 FAA directives in a responsibility in the organisation
fleet of nearly 7,000 aircraft fly- shifting frequently.
ing with over 100 airliners. In all Statistically, flying still con-
probability, the FAA inspectors tinues to be the safest form of
may not go beyond percentage mass transportation. The In-
check, with special attention to ternational Air Transport As-
the ageing Boeing 737 fleet. sociation has declared 2006 as
Barely had the Southwest the safest year for the airline
Airline episode died down that industry. Despite phenomenal
another procedural violation increase in traffic density, there
ILLUSTRATION: MAMTA

was detected by FAA inspectors. has been no major disaster in

A Korean firm contracted by
United Airlines for maintenance
of aircraft was believed to have
calibrated the Traffic Collision
Avoidance System (TCAS) by spe-
cialised test equipment whose
accuracy had not been checked as per the laid down sched-
ule. TCAS is critical to air safety and the United Airlines opted
to ground seven Boeing 747 aircraft for fresh inspection.
To survive the debilitating aftermath on the 9/11 World
Trade Center attacks, the recession plagued US airline indus-
try adopted a wide range of cost reduction measures, including
outsourcing of maintenance. Consequently, nearly 70 per cent
of maintenance tasks are outsourced to low cost MRO agen-
cies across the globe, many of whom may not be FAA certified.
recent times, thanks to better
technology not only in the man-
ufacture of aircraft but in radio-
navigation systems, landing aids
and air traffic management. But
the revelation by Southwest Air-
lines has been regarded by the US Government as “the most
serious air safety lapse in the last two decades”. Pressure on
the FAA to tighten controls is bound to increase.
Against this backdrop, one can’t help wondering about
the roles and functions of the Indian civil aviation authorities.
Not only is the Indian system less transparent, it is unlikely
that those entrusted with key regulatory responsibilities could
be totally immune to human limitations or frailty. SP
— Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 5

 AIRLINE OPERATIONS
FOG
InFocus
Till the Next
ILLUSTRATION: RATAN SONAL
C
ome winter and the prospect of catch-
ing an early morning flight to a business
meet can send shivers down the spine,
literally. As a thick blanket of inscrutable
fog wraps runways, setting aside a 24-hour trav-
el time remains the only viable solution.
Decade old reforms in civil aviation policies
and a sustained high rate of India’s economic
growth may have spurred the formation of a
travel on fogged out winter mornings,
number of airlines but practically all of them bear
the brunt of winter woes, especially in the north.
Fogged out and fumbling with disrupted flight
schedules, airports—especially Delhi’s buzzing
Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA)—turn
into veritable battlegrounds, with irate passen-
gers cursing the airlines, who in turn point to the
impenetrable miasma shrouding the airstrip to
explain flight delays and cancellations. But isn’t
there a solution to the seemingly perennial prob-
lems posed by fog and weather phenomenon, such as dust
in suspension or heavy rain, that adversely affect visibility?
Initially, the problem lay with the Airport Authority of
India (AAI). Responsible for ensuring modernisation of in-
frastructure and operational systems at India’s airports, the
AAI’s efforts have over the years been repeatedly derailed
by lack of funds and even sheer apathy. Take the case of
Delhi. Apparently, as early as 1997, the AAI had tried to up-
grade the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the IGIA from
the then existing ILS Category II to ILS Category III (B) by
acquiring new equipment. Cat III (B) landing follows a preci-
sion approach using the ILS system with:
• a decision height down to 50 ft and,
• a runway visual range (RVR) of 50 to 200 m
For various mostly inexplicable reasons, the system was
not commissioned till 2004. When installed, the Cat III (B)
ILS system should have been able to largely beat the annual
fog and other weather conditions which lower runway vis-
ibility, especially considering that it is extremely rare for the
RVR at the IGIA to go below 50 m. But that didn’t happen.
The CAT III (B) ILS has been operational for three years now
at the Delhi airport, yet it has not been put to full use be-
cause only a small number of pilots are trained on the sys-
tem. The prohibitive costs incurred towards imparting such
a training, that too to acquire a capability that comes handy
DETAILS OF DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF ILS:
Category I II III (A) III (B) III (C)
RVR (m) 550+ 300-500 200-300 50-200 0-50
Decision 200 100 50 to No Decision
Height (ft) height
6 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008
Even as clear summer skies drive
away the harrowing memories of air
here’s a look at the burgeoning
aviation industry’s challenges and
shortcomings that effectively clip its
wings during the cold season
for barely a month in the entire year under Indian weather
conditions, largely discourages airlines to finance the exer-
cise. Till last year, only about 90 Indian pilots were trained
to use the Cat III (B) instrument landing system as per the
Civil Aviation Ministry records. Practically, all of them were
employed with Indian (previously Indian Airlines) or Air In-
dia. This year, Kingfisher Airlines proudly advertised that
fog did not delay its flight schedules as the pilots had the
necessary training to use Cat III ILS. But this appeared to be
more of an advertising ploy than ‘across the board’ reality.
Mushrooming low-cost airlines are worst hit by the fog. If,
on an average, 20 flights were either delayed or cancelled at
Delhi airport during the 2005-06 winter months, the figure
climbed further during the last two years mostly because of
exponential increase in the number of flights being operated
by a large number of new airlines joining the fray. Operating
on tight schedules and wafer-thin margins, the cancellation
of even a single flight hits these budget airlines hard because
their aircraft fly longer hours than others and hardly ever
have spare aircraft on standby. In addition, budget airlines
often use a single aircraft to connect several destinations and
long delays can easily destroy the day’s entire schedule.
Fact of the matter is, almost all airlines, and certainly
the budget airlines, find themselves in a ‘Catch 22’ situa-
tion—hemmed in, on one hand, by the daunting proposition
of absorbing the high costs of training pilots and, on the oth-
er, forced to swallow financial losses caused by fog related
disruptions in flight schedules. With winter well behind us,
our worries on the score could seem misplaced—till the next
onset of the cold months, when the harassed air traveller
starts to feel the chill again. SP
— Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia
 AIRLINE OPERATIONS
Forum
AIRLINES
in a
Daze All airlines will have to take necessary
steps to train their pilots in judicious
numbers in CAT III ILS operations to
prevent flight delays occurring due to
E low-visibility weather phenomena such
arlier, lack of
properlanding
aids grounded
aircraft under
as fog,smog and dust-in-suspension
foggy meteorological
conditions. Today, lack
of adequately trained pilots causes airlines’ operations to go
haywire.
Galvanised by the mushrooming airlines industry and
spurred by the public outcry over avoidable delays, the Air-
port Authority of India (AAI) finally took some concrete steps
to install appropriate categories of instrument landing sys-
tems (ILS) at some of the metro airports. Delhi, for one, boasts
of a Cat III (B) ILS while Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata are
known to have Cat II systems. The Indira Gandhi International
Airport at Delhi is the worst affected due to fog during winter
months and, therefore, has a better category ILS to match the
reduced Runway Visual Ranges (RVRs). A Cat III (B) instrument
landing system permits a pilot to land off a precision approach
with a runway visual range as low as 50 m and practically no
limit to decision height. With this kind of capability, it would
only be on the rarest of rare occasions when meteorological
conditions would not permit an incoming flight to land or an
outgoing flight to take-off at Delhi airport.
Appropriate training and type endorsement for Cat III (B)
instrument rating for the pilots in command before they are
permitted to operate in such weather minima are, however,
the prerequisites, and therein lies the catch. A pilot has to
not only meet a set of stringent eligibility requirements but
also clear a set of relevant ground subjects and flying tests
conducted by qualified
examiners before be-
ing conferred the ap-
propriate rating and
endorsement. Needless
to say, it is not easy.
First, the eligibility/experience requirements. As per Fed-
eral Aviation regulations, a person who applies for a Category
III pilot authorisation must have at least:
• 50 hours of night flight time as pilot in command
• 75 hours of instrument flight time during actual or simulated
instrument conditions that may include not more than: (i) a
combination of 25 hours of simulated instrument flight time
in a flight simulator or flight training device; or (ii) 40 hours
of simulated instrument flight time if accomplished in an
approved course conducted by an appropriately rated and
certified training centre
• 250 hours of cross-country flight time as pilot in command.
(Note: The DGCA eligibility requirements may be even
more stringent than the ones laid down by the Federal Avia-
tion Agency.)
Next is the practical test, consisting of an oral increment
and a flight increment. In the oral increment, the applicant
must demonstrate knowledge of the following (the more im-
portant ones are):
• Required landing distance
• Determination and recognition of the alert height or decision
height, as applicable, including use of a radar altimeter
• Recognition of and proper reaction to significant fail-
ures encountered prior to and after reaching the alert or
Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 7
 FORUM AIRLINE OPERATIONS
decision height
• Missed approach procedures
• Use and limitations of RVR, and so on
• Use, availability or limitations of visual cues
• Effects of vertical and horizontal wind shear
• Characteristics and limitations of the ILS and runway light-
ing system
• Characteristics and limitations of the concerned flight-deck
instruments and other Cat III equipment
• Recognition of, and reaction to, airborne or ground system
faults or abnormalities, and so on
The flight increment is the actual flying test conducted
on the aircraft on which the endorsement has been applied
for and must consist of at least two ILS approaches to deci-
sion height, including one landing and one missed approach
initiated from a very low altitude that may result in a touch-
down during the go-around manoeuvre. So far as emergency
handling is concerned, if a multi-engine aircraft with the per-
formance capability to execute a missed approach with one
engine inoperative is used for the test, the flight increment
must include the performance of one missed approach with
the most critical engine being simulated as inoperative (set at
idle or zero thrust, as applicable).
Quite evidently and as is appar-
ent from the eligibility requirements
and test procedures, only senior
commanders in an airline are likely
to have the requisite experience that
PHOTOGRAPHS: SP GUIDE PUBNS
would allow them to train for CAT
“IF YOU (PRIVATE DOMESTIC AIRLINES) ARE NOT EQUIPPED
TO FLY DURING FOG, WE MAY HAVE TO RESTRICT THE
FLIGHT SCHEDULES NEXT YEAR (2007).”
—AJAY PRASAD,
FORMER CIVIL AVIATION SECRETARY
“COST OF SUCH TRAINING IS YET ANOTHER DAMPENER.
ESTIMATES VARY BUT IT IS BELIEVED THAT TRAINING A SINGLE
PILOT ON THE CATEGORY III INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM
III ILS operations. This poses sev- COULD COST BETWEEN RS 12 AND 20 LAKH.”
eral hurdles. Considering the seri- —AIR MARSHAL N. MENON,
ous shortage in this class of pilots, FORMER AIR OFFICER PERSONNEL AT AIR HEADQUARTERS
practically all the airlines would
find it difficult to spare experienced
commanders, who are in great demand for the operation of
scheduled flights, to undergo the time-consuming CAT III
ILS training. “Cost of such training is yet another dampener,”
points out Air Marshal (Retd) N. Menon former Air Officer Per-
sonnel at Air Headquarters. “Estimates vary but it is believed
that training a single pilot on the Category III instrument land-
ing system could cost between Rs 12 and 20 lakh.” Therefore,
while public sector carriers Air India and Indian (Air India,
post-merger), unhindered by concerns about operational and
training costs, flaunt a reasonable crop of suitably trained pi-
lots for CAT III ILS operations, private airlines governed by the
bottom line find it taxing to fork out money for extra training.
Rather than a lack of technology or gadgets, the Civil Avia-
tion Ministry attributes the chaos during the winter months
to the reluctance of private airlines to train their pilots on the
Category III instrument landing system. In 2006, then Civil
Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad had at a meeting exhorted
representatives of private domestic airlines to train their pi-
lots to fly under conditions of fog, warning: “...if you are not
8 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008
equipped to fly during fog, we may have to restrict the flight
schedules next year.” Two years on, the situation has shown
little or no improvement.
The general consensus among private airlines is that
government rules make it tough for pilots to qualify for ILS
training in India. Also, already operating under wafer thin
margins, it is felt a waste of time and money to cater for
a problem which is considered to be a short-lived annual
weather phenomenon. A senior official of one of the low-cost
carriers recently stated, “We are not ready to invest such
huge amounts for a two-week fog problem at this juncture.”
Last year, when operating alone, Air Deccan had gone to
the extent of rewriting its winter schedule to ensure that its
flights operated with minimal disruption due to the fog in
north India but it didn’t help much because the delays have
a cascading effect on subsequent flights operating from an
airport on the same day. “Yet another major problem faced
by low-cost carriers is that their better trained pilots invari-
ably get poached by full-service airlines with the lure of bet-
ter pay packets,” says Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey, for-
mer Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Training Command.
So, what is the lasting solution to this vexing problem?
Ultimately, all airlines will have to
take necessary steps to train their
pilots in judicious numbers in
CAT III ILS operations to prevent
flight delays occurring due to low-
visibility weather phenomena
such as fog, smog and dust-in-
“YET ANOTHER MAJOR PROBLEM FACED BY LOW-COST CARRIERS IS
THAT THEIR BETTER TRAINED PILOTS INVARIABLY GET POACHED BY
FULL-SERVICE AIRLINES WITH THE LURE OF BETTER PAY PACKETS.”
—AIR MARSHAL B.K. PANDEY,
FORMER AIR OFFICER COMMANDING IN CHIEF, TRAINING COMMAND
suspension. Meanwhile, the civil
aviation industry which has
spawned so many airlines in the
recent years, triggering relentless
and unsustainable cut-throat
competition, would have to be consolidated. Good news
is the process has already been kicked off with the recent
mergers between Jet and Air Sahara, Air India and Indian,
and Kingfisher and Air Deccan.
Next, efforts will have to be made to further unfetter the
civil aviation sector from bureaucratic rules and regulations,
an essential criterion to bring it at par with world standards.
Pricing of aviation fuel is another area where the government
should consider adopting international norms. These mea-
sures would help in bringing the airlines out of the red where
cumulative losses are rising by the day. Economic viability
will also foster a better sense of responsibility towards pas-
senger comfort and on time operations and spur airlines to
train pilots to be able to tackle the vagaries of weather.
In the final analysis, it may not perhaps be necessary for
every single pilot to be CAT III ILS trained; adopting imagi-
native and flexible roster systems could cater to weather af-
fected airports in real time, on as required basis. SP
Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia
 SPACE OPERATIONS
S T O R Y

Jules Verne’s
UNMANNED
C O V E R

Voyage From a
‘Space Truck’
to a ‘Space
Garbage
Disposal System’,
from
an ISS ‘supplier’to
an ISS ‘sustainer’—
the robustness,
size and cutting-edge
technologies of the ATV
are so remarkable that
Jules Verne could easily
usher in what may be
PHOTOGRAPHS: ESA

termed Revolution
in Space Affairs
By
Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia

Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 9

A
SPACE OPERATIONS
pril 3, 1445 hours GMT. Jules Verne docks
with the International Space Station (ISS)—
unmanned, on automated mode and dot
on schedule, creating history as the first of
the European Space Agency’s Automated
Transfer Vehicles (ATV). On March 9, riding
on the mighty shoulders of a special version
of Europe’s workhorse launcher, the Ariane 5ES rocket, it
was successfully launched into space. Spewing a fiery trail
in the night sky, the lift-off occurred at 0103 hours (local
time) from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s spaceport in
Kourou, French Guiana. Specially adapted to the task of loft-
ing the nearly 20-tonne vehicle—more than twice as heavy
as the previous largest Ariane 5 payload—the rocket put the
ATV in a preplanned low circular orbit 260 km above the
earth, inclined at 51.6 degrees relative to the Equator.
Named after the celebrated 19th century French visionary
and author, the Jules Verne ATV is the largest and most so-
phisticated spacecraft ever developed in Europe. But that was
not the reason it created space history. Jules Verne is the very
first spacecraft in the world designed to combine the functions
of an autonomous free-flying platform, a manoeuvrable space
vehicle and a space station module. It is also equipped with
the capability to conduct automated docking in full compli-
ance with the very tight safety constraints imposed by human
spaceflight operations. About 10 m high with a diameter of 4.5
m and weighing 19,357 kg at launch, the ATV incorporates a
45 cubic metre module, derived from the Columbus pressure
shell, and a Russian-built docking system, similar to those
used on Soyuz manned ferries and on the Progress resupply
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: LAUNCH PAD OF THE ATV;
(INSET) THE ATV DOCKED AS SCHEDULED ON APRIL 3
10 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008
ship. About three times larger than its Russian counterpart, it
can also deliver about three times more cargo.
A day after the launch, with the ATV coursing in the low
earth orbit (LEO), the mission came close to being a cropper
when an electronic fault sent the entire propulsion system
crashing. An overnight recovery operation later, scientists
and engineers at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France
managed to restore the vehicle’s propulsion system to full
robustness, enabling, once again, full failure tolerance.
DUAL MISSION
As part of its contribution to the operational costs of the
ISS, ESA took a decision to develop the ATV as an Euro-
pean effort. “The ATV is how we contribute to the opera-
tions costs of the space station—by taking up several tonnes
of logistics,” said Alan Thirkettle, the ESA’s ISS Programme
Manager. The ATV had been under development since 1998
by an industrial team led by Astrium Space Transportation
and comprising more than 30 companies from 10 European
countries. The dual mission of the ATV comprises re-supply
to and re-boost of the ISS. The maiden voyage of the ATV
proves that Europe can deliver new technical competen-
cies to rival the best in the space exploration business. As
stated earlier, the most notable competency is the ATV’s au-
tomatic rendezvous and docking technology: the spacecraft
found its own way to the station and attached itself without
any human intervention. In its maiden ATV mission, Jules
Verne delivered 4.6 tonnes of payload to the ISS, including
SPACE OPERATIONS
1,150 kg of dry cargo, 856 kg of propellant for
the Russian Zvezda module, 270 kg of drinking
water and 21 kg of oxygen.
On future ATV missions, the payload capac-
ity will be increased to 7.4 tonnes. About half
the payload onboard Jules Verne ATV is re-boost
propellant, which will be used by its own propul-
sion system for periodic manoeuvres to increase
the altitude of the ISS in order to compensate its
natural decay caused by atmospheric drag. In ad-
dition, on its way back to Earth after about four
to six months spent docked with the ISS, Jules
Verne will carry away the waste from the station.
It will then be de-orbited over the Southern Pacif-
ic Ocean and burn up in the atmosphere in a fully
controlled manner.
AUTOMATED APPROACH
Waiting in the wings for Endeavour to complete its mission,
Jules Verne had been parked in space for close to a month
before it progressed towards the ISS once the space shuttle
had returned to Earth on March 27. Then, the ATV’s own
computers took charge, imbibing the characteristics of an
advanced form of GPS to guide Jules Verne to the space sta-
tion and bring it to within 300 m of the ISS. Optical sensors
were then used for the final approach. These involved flash-
ing laser light off reflectors already positioned around the
docking port on the ISS’s Zvezda module. The ATV was pro-
grammed to move in stages towards the station. At each hold
point, ground staff in Toulouse approved the next phase of
the automated approach. An astronaut on the ISS also moni-
tored and oversaw the docking with overriding controls to
stop the ATV in its tracks or, in case of an emergency, send it
away from the station to a safe parking location.
Although it did not carry any people, the ATV is highly peo-
ple friendly. During the time it is docked, astronauts dressed in
normal clothing will be able to access its cargo and systems.
The ATV’s cavernous interior has room for up to eight racks
loaded with modular storage cargo elements. Its structure also
incorporates several storage tanks for drinking water, refueling
propellant for the space station’s own propulsion system and
air (oxygen and nitrogen) for the crew. Thirkettle describes the
ATV “like a combination of a telecom satellite, navigation vessel
and a human spacecraft all rolled into one—a true marriage of
human spacecraft and satellites”. As a logistics re-supply vehi-
cle for the ISS, the ATV will continue to gain in importance from
2008. By 2011, however, Jules Verne will play a key role once
the space shuttle retires, rendering it the only heavy lift vehicle
for the ISS.
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES
ESA’s ATV has been so designed that it can be the basis in
the future for developing a wide variety of new space ve-
hicles. Several possibilities exist. One of these relate to the
replacement of the pressurised cabin with a large cargo re-
turn aircraft with a reentry shield which would be able to
bring back cargo and valuable experiments. Such a project
could use the flight proven concept of ESA’s Atmospheric
Reentry Demonstrator which flew successfully in 1998. An-
other interesting scenario includes converting the ATV into
a Crew Transport Vehicle which, however, would require
SPACE TRUCK: IN ITS MAIDEN ATV MISSION, JULES VERNE
DELIVERED 4.6 TONNES OF PAYLOAD TO THE ISS
“The ATV is like a combination
of a telecom satellite, navigation
vessel and a human spacecraft
all rolled into one—a true marriage
of human spacecraft and satellites.”
—Alan Thirkettle,
ESA’s ISS Programme Manager
more complex modifications whereby the pressurised cabin
could be transformed into a manned reentry capsule for
crew transportation. This could be used, in a first phase, as
a crew rescue vehicle for the space station, and later as a full
to and fro crew transport spacecraft launched by Ariane-5.
Another concept could be an unpressurised logistics carrier
version for transporting several tones of equipment not re-
quiring a pressurised environment. Yet another possibility
relates to equipping the core of an ATV with a small eject-
able capsule able to return about 150 kg of cargo to Earth at
the end of a mission.
The ATV could also be evolved into an unmanned free-fly-
ing laboratory able to dock periodically with the ISS for ma-
jor servicing support. Such a free-flying pressurised space-
ship could also be used as a safe haven for an entire crew in
case of an onboard ISS emergency. Later, there might be the
possibility of constructing a mini space station by equipping
the ATV with two docking mechanisms, one in front and
one in the back. And, much further in the future, ATV could
also be developed into a transfer vehicle for carrying tonnes
of supplies and equipment, including space telescopes and
planetary spacecraft, to lunar and Martian orbits.
From a ‘Space Truck’ to a ‘Space Garbage Disposal Sys-
tem’, from an ISS ‘supplier’ to an ISS ‘sustainer’—the ro-
bustness, size and cutting-edge technologies of the ATV are
so remarkable that true to its name, Jules Verne could easily
usher in what may be termed Revolution in Space Affairs
(RSA). Further, should the concerned players also decide to
push weaponisation of space, the so-called RSA would then
transmute to an RMA, or Revolution in Military Affairs, as a
natural embodiment. SP
Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 11
 Defending
MILITARY OPERATIONS
Home Turf
Defence of homeland is the primary responsibility of the armed
forces. However, the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in
the US has infused a new dimension to ‘homeland defence’—
or, more appropriately,‘homeland security’
D
Air Marshal (Retd) Narayan Menon, Bangalore
efence, according to the Ox-
ford English Dictionary, de-
notes “military measures or resources for protecting
a country”. This has traditionally translated into pro-
tecting national borders from external aggression and the con-
notation now includes pre-emptive attack against a would-be
aggressor. Defence of homeland is the primary responsibility
of the armed forces. However, the 9/11 attacks on the World
Trade Center in the US has infused a new dimension to ‘home-
land defence’—or, more appropriately, ‘homeland security’.
The attack against the Indian Parliament on December 13,
2001 and Delhi’s willingness to go to war against the perpe-
trating country reinforced the convergence between ‘defence’
and ‘security’ when it comes to protecting national interests.
A large country with an area of 3.3 million sq km, India’s
coastline stretches for over 7,600 km and a land border of
14,000 km, the alignment of some of which is under dispute.
India has common borders with Pakistan, China, Bangladesh,
Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. The pre-1947 state of Jammu
and Kashmir had a 110-km border with Afghanistan also. The
island territories of Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep
are also integral to the Indian Union. This vast entity has to be
defended against attack which, for ease of understanding, can
be classified as conventional, non-conventional and unconven-
tional. Conventional attacks are those that are launched across
land borders, coastlines or through the medium of air into the
home territory, territorial waters or sovereign airspace. Non-
conventional attacks include nuclear, biological and chemi-
cal attacks, as also attack from space. Considering the lack
of experience in this particular type of attack, India’s defence
strategy would have to be based on options derived from war-
gaming or scenario painting. Unconventional attacks are those
mounted by non-state actors, like terrorists, from outside or
within the country, with the intention of spreading terror. This
category could also include cyber warfare, where technology
is employed to target infrastructure like power grids, trans-
portation systems or communication networks. Any treatise
on homeland security warrants an in-depth analysis of each
of these three types of attacks.
12 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008
UNCONVENTIONAL ATTACKS
India is surrounded by instability. Pakistan has become the
epicentre of terrorism and is highly unstable. Whenever this
instability reaches a critical point, the powers that be, take re-
course to an anti-Indian posture and indulge in cross-border
terrorism. Afghanistan is a fragile state, propped up by foreign
troops on its soil, fighting what appears to be a losing battle
against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Nepal has its Maoists, cur-
rently unlikely partners in a ruling coalition, but uncomfortable
in the fetters of governance. Bangladesh is under martial rule,
faced with the problems of poverty, corruption and irreconcil-
able internal dissensions. Sri Lanka is caught up in a civil war,
impeding national growth. China’s high economic benefits are
confined to the eastern belt and there is restlessness in the
interior. The military junta in Myanmar has a track record of
oppression and maybe heading towards strife with its monks
taking up cudgels on behalf of a suffering population.
Hemmed in by a volatile neighbourhood, with the hostil-
ity spilling over its borders, India is vulnerable to unconven-
tional forms of attack. Terrorists originating from Pakistan, the
Maoists spreading their tentacles across a wide swathe of un-
der-developed regions, the narcotics trade from Myanmar, the
Sri Lankan crisis affecting Tamil Nadu and the demographic
time-bomb out of Bangladesh altogether have serious implica-
tions for the country’s security. The multiplicity of race, religion
and languages in India makes it relatively easy for potential
perpetrators to melt into the country’s billion-plus population.
Locals are brain-washed or lured with money to aid perpetra-
tors, who are themselves controlled by masterminds in foreign
lands. Despite a huge network of security personnel, India’s
borders are porous, permitting men and materials to be ille-
gally brought into the country. The developing nexus among
the terrorists, Maoists, Naxalites and LTTE sympathisers make
this challenge all the more formidable. The carnage in Mumbai
is testimony to the fact that some stretches of the Indian coast-
line can be breached for nefarious purposes. The infamous Pu-
rulia incident, where arms were air-dropped, highlighted the
MILITARY OPERATIONS
gaps in India’s airspace management system.
Defence against such unconventional attacks has to be
based on eternal vigilance and to deny the enemy recruit-
able elements in the country by ensuring development and
economic upliftment, especially in India’s border areas. A
beginning has been made but progress will be slow given
the corruption and sloth in the administrative system. Many
ministries, including Home and Defence, are involved in this
gigantic endeavour. Overlapping responsibilities, centre and
state jurisdictional aspects and a ponderous decision chain
add to the difficulties. In the past few years coordination has
improved, especially in the area of intelligence and India is
on the way to getting its act together.
Recent reports of the Pentagon computer network being
compromised by hackers pointed the needle of suspicion to
the Chinese or the Russians. Many of India’s websites are de-
faced and its networks broken into by hackers from across the
border. This new system of unconventional warfare has omi-
nous portents. One can visualise the chaos if hackers penetrate
critical networks. Hackers could immobilise the railway sys-
tem bringing to a halt movement of equipment, supplies and
troops. Many such systems can be interfered with resulting in
catastrophic situations. Increasing dependence on technology
has the flip side of increased vulnerability. Comprehensive se-
curity systems for computer networks and adequate backups
need to be established to meet such contingencies. Equally im-
portantly, India, which has strengths in information technology,
must develop capabilities to identify and neutralise such attack
sources and have retaliatory plans against the hacker coun-
try. While the armed forces are reported to have embarked on
such a venture, there is no information available in the public
domain about a national effort in the realm of cyber warfare.
NON-CONVENTIONAL ATTACKS
To date, though many countries possess nuclear weapons
and delivery systems, only the US has offensively employed
atomic weapons. China and Pakistan are nuclear weapon
states and both have territorial dispute with India. While
the fear of a nuclear holocaust has receded with the end of
the Cold War, the country’s threat analysis must factor in a
nuclear attack. Pakistan has long been tottering on the edge
of failure as a nation state and a fundamentalist regime in
that country could play brinkmanship with its nuclear arse-
nal with India being a likely target. Today, it would be within
the realms of possibility that non-state actors get possession
of a crude nuclear device and threaten India.
So, while it may not occur, India has to be prepared for a
nuclear attack. The National Disaster Management Authority
is charged with this responsibility, though the grim reality is
that, medically no one can ever be fully ready for a nuclear
war. The Hiroshima bomb wiped out nearly all the doctors
and nurses in the city, destroyed most of the hospitals and
rendered the remaining unfit for any meaningful activity.
Doctrines of nuclear weapon states lay down procedures
in the event of an unexpected and successful nuclear attack
against a nation’s capital. A mechanism for default political
leadership is laid down as also for military command struc-
tures. It can be assumed that India has such plans drawn up.
The National Security Advisor, the Strategic Forces and the
scientific community would have been involved in this exer-
cise. Nuclear weapons, in all probability, would be delivered
using ballistic missiles launched from the enemy country.
One component of a nation’s defence against missile at-
tacks is the creation of an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system.
India has an active ABM development programme known as
the advanced air defence (AAD) missile system. In November
2006, an exo-atmosphere (outside the atmosphere) intercep-
tor AAD intercepted a Prithvi II missile at an altitude of 50
km. The AAD can reach a maximum altitude of 80 km. India
is the fourth nation to acquire this capability and the third
to develop it indigenously. In December 2007, an endo-at-
mospheric variant of the AAD was successfully tested with
interception taking place at a height of 30 km. The ABMs are
fired in a salvo of two to achieve a ‘kill probability’ of 99.8 per
cent. Induction of the system is expected by 2011-2012. Two
new missiles, the AD-1 and the AD-2, are being developed
to intercept intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). These high speed
ABMs will undergo trials in 2010. Very long range radars, ca-
pable of distinguishing aircraft, ballistic missiles and meteors
are also being concurrently developed.
A contest for control of space is being played out among the
world’s powers. Russia, China and the US have demonstrated
their capability to destroy objects far above the earth. Despite
all the pontificating about non-militarisation of space, major
powers are developing the required capabilities. India, which
has a vibrant and robust space programme, needs to shed all
inhibitions in this regard and acquire the necessary expertise.
CONVENTIONAL ATTACKS
In the field of conventional warfare, India’s potential adver-
saries are Pakistan and China, the two countries it has fought
wars with post-Independence. The two countries have colluded
with each other in an anti-Indian posture and strong military
links exist between them. China has covered a lot of distance
on its path of military modernisation. Beijing’s current focus is
towards Taiwan and South China seas, but it has the where-
withal to pose a threat to any of its neighbours. Flaunting a
strong military-industrial base and having procured state-of-
the-art weapon systems from Russia, China has benchmarked
Washington’s battlefield prowess for its own military and while
it may not get there, the attempt would make it a dangerous
adversary for India. Pakistan has received military aid from
the US and China. Pakistan has an identity crisis and the only
constant since 1947 is its belligerence towards India. Despite
its current pre-occupation with unrest and turbulence along
the western border with Afghanistan, Pakistan’s military, now
having been ordered to go back to barracks by the newly elect-
ed civilian rulers, still remains a reckonable force in the politi-
cal and power equations in Pakistan.
Weapon acquisition for the Indian military, low key during
1985-2000, has accelerated again. The Indian Army is raising
two new mountain divisions to be deployed in the north east.
The navy is acquiring an aircraft carrier and nuclear-powered
submarine in its build-up towards a blue-water force. The air
force will bolster its fire power with induction of Fourth and
Fifth Generation combat aircraft and force multipliers, like
Flight Refuelling and AWACS aircraft. India is reasonably well
protected against conventional attack but there is no room for
complacency. There is an urgent need to strengthen the coun-
try’s military industrial complex and increase the indigenous
content in the military establishment’s hardware inventory. SP
Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 13
heck out for next launch by SP’s. . . .
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 CIVIL BUSINESS AVIATION

Corporate aviation is fast

PHOTOGRAPH: LANDMARK AVIATION

expanding in India in response

to the imperatives thrown up by
economic growth. But is the growth
sustained by a corresponding
quality in MRO services?

H e aat l i n g
HOME By
Group Captain A.K. Sachdev, Bangalore

Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 15

S
CIVIL BUSINESS AVIATION

LOWLY BUT INEXORABLY, the centre of grav- growth in aviation activity matched by a corresponding es-
ity of the civil aviation industry is shifting to tablishment of MRO services?
the Asia Pacific region even as Europe and At present, the potential worth of the MRO segment
America remain home to the largest aircraft in India is estimated to be around $875 million (Rs 3,514
manufacturers in the industry. Spiralling de- crore). This is the most optimistic figure; a less cheerful
mand for commercial and corporate aviation, one pegs it at $400 million (Rs 1,607 crore), while the pro-
emerging (and brilliantly so) markets, mush- jected growth is an estimated $1.57 billion (Rs 6,306 crore)
rooming economies and increasing number over the next five years. The projected 10 to 12 per cent
of high net-worth individuals (HNI), have all meant that Cumulated Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is expected to be
aviation activity is on an ascendant. India’s aviation indus- manifest for the next 10 years. The government seems to
try is perhaps the fastest growing in the world in terms have taken some steps to encourage the setting up of MROs
of passenger and cargo traffic. A consolidation phase is in in India. While maintaining the 49 per cent FDI limit in do-
progress in the commercial arena and corporate aviation mestic airlines, and up to 74 per cent stake in non-sched-
is fast expanding in response to the uled, chartered and cargo airlines
imperatives thrown up by economic that do not have any participation
growth. It is not just enhanced buying Another city besides by foreign airlines, it has permitted
power that is bringing in growth in Bangalore that is a 100 per cent FDI for MRO service
corporate flying but also the expedi- providers. The significance of such a
ent, nay necessity, of saving busy cor-
fast emerging as measure is immense for the future of
porate heads and CEOs the hassles of an international corporate aviation in as much as its
travelling by commercial flights (albe- MRO hub is Nagpur impact on the maintenance costs for
it first class) with the attendant woes where US-based Duke their aircraft would be huge.
of delays and security checks and so Aviation plans to While there are 300 independent
on. The aviation ministry forecasts MROs across the globe, including
the number of just the jets in use for
set up an MRO facility 65 in the Asia Pacific region, there
corporate and private aviation to go is as of today really no serious MRO
up to 500 in five years—a three-fold in India. Varman Aviation located at
increase from present day. So, is the Whitefield Bangalore is perhaps the

16 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008

CIVIL BUSINESS AVIATION

only MRO approved by the Directorate General Civil Avia- (being primarily directed for commercial aircraft), the other
tion in India. Engaged in the overhaul of piston and tur- two would probably cater to the needs of smaller corporate
boprop engines, the company is making efforts to obtain aircraft. Boeing is planning to set up a $100 million (Rs 402
EASA and FAA certification. Taneja Aerospace and Avia- crore) facility at Nagpur, which could be expected to cater
tion Limited (TAAL) and Air Works India could perhaps be only to Boeing needs of the larger commercial aircraft.
seen as masquerading MROs but are Lufthansa Technik, among the
not doing very well. Realising the po- world’s largest MRO service provid-
tential for MRO growth in the coming No surprise, therefore, ers, has announced a tie up with
years, there are several serious play- that Hawker Beechcraft GMR group for an MRO facility at
ers in the initial stages of setting up Corporation announced Hyderabad and also with Jet Airways
facilities. plans to open a new for a Rs 200-crore MRO facility. King-
Three of the four MRO facilities to fisher is talking to GAMCO of Abu
be set up by National Aviation Com-
Hawker Beechcraft Dhabi, UAE, for setting up an MRO
pany of India Limited (NACIL), are Authorised Service Centre in Bangalore or Chennai. ATR is set-
expected to begin limited operations for Hawker aircraft ting up a facility for technical support
by the end of the next financial year. at the Indira Gandhi in Bangalore. Indeed, the closure of
Consulting firm Accenture, hired by International Airport Bangalore’s HAL airport has come as
NACIL to advise the public-owned a boon as plans are afoot to convert it
airline, suggested that the airline
in Delhi with InterGlobe into an MRO centre.
start four MROs—two for airframes General Aviation Ltd, HAL is reportedly in an advanced
(with Boeing and EADS), one for air- a subsidiary of stage of negotiations with a global
craft engines and another for aircraft InterGlobe Enterprises MRO company on a 50:50 joint ven-
components. After the NACIL board (which operates Indigo ture to undertake extensive repairs
approved this plan, the airline has and overhaul of both airframes and
signed MoUs with aircraft manufac-
Airlines in India) engines, besides supplying spare
turers EADS and Boeing. While the parts for all aircraft types. Although
EADS and Boeing MROs would not the HAL joint venture would serve
be of much help to corporate aviation both commercial and defence needs

It’s as if we read the minds of

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Cessna Aircraft
Sure Thing® Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 17
 CIVIL BUSINESS AVIATION
PHOTOGRAPH: HONEYWELL
and primarily look at servicing wide-bodied aircraft, its
spare parts section is expected to be of great use (in terms
of cost and time saving) to the corporate sector. Names
doing the rounds as potential partners with HAL are SIA
Engineering (the MRO division of Singapore Airlines) and
Lufthansa Technik. The HAL-owned airport is already
equipped with infrastructure needed to set up a world-
class MRO facility.
Once the new Bangalore international airport at Deva-
nahalli opens for operations, HAL will shut down com-
mercial airline operations business and the scene will be
set for the establishment of the MRO which, it is estimated,
will more than make up for the revenue lost by way of
charges levied for commercial aviation while the airport
was in use.
Another city besides Bangalore that is fast emerging
as an international MRO hub is Nagpur where US-based
Duke Aviation plans to set up an MRO facility, the fourth
such centre to come up in the city’s SEZ. Maharashtra Air-
port Development Company (MADC) announced recently
that Duke Aviation would be allotted around 30 acres of
land on which they will invest around Rs 150 crore in an
MRO project. Duke would initially begin with non-engine
work, which mainly includes works such as that on inte-
riors of an aircraft. Subsequently, the project would also
undertake engine maintenance work. Boeing was the first
to propose such a set up in Nagpur, and other companies
that have proposed MROs are Mumbai-based Max Aero-
space, which would have its set up on 15 acres of area,
and US-based Bravia, which has been allotted 35 acres
for its MRO.
During 2007, the healthy trends in Indian corporate
aviation rendered India the third largest market worldwide
for Hawker Beechcraft products. In addition to the growing
corporate demand for business jets, Hawker Beechcraft has
18 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008
recently announced
a large order of 20
Hawker 850XP and
Hawker 900XP air-
craft from a new op-
erator, BJETS, which
is expected to start
fractional ownership
and air charter ser-
vices in India soon.
No surprise, there-
fore, that Hawker
Beechcraft Corpora-
tion announced plans
to open a new Hawk-
er Beechcraft Autho-
rised Service Centre
for Hawker aircraft
at the Indira Gandhi
International Airport
in Delhi with Inter-
Globe General Avia-
tion Ltd, a subsidiary
of InterGlobe Enter-
prises (which oper-
ates Indigo Airlines
QUALITY MATTERS: INDIA NEEDS TO
UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR STRINGENT
in India). This is the
QUALITY STANDARDS STRICTLY ADHERED first authorised ser-
TO BY OVERSEAS SERVICE PROVIDERS vice centre for Hawk-
er jets in India. The
BJETS aircraft will be
maintained by InterGlobe General Aviation which will oc-
cupy an area of 1,700 sq m and offer world class amenities,
including a VIP lounge, crew lounges, maintenance support
offices and a large hangar that can undertake maintenance
on up to six aircraft at a time. Hawker owners not only
in India, but also in the surrounding region, will now get
maintenance and support from this facility.
Quite evidently, a large number of MRO facilities are in
the offing with the potential to service the corporate sector.
The key to their success is the sheer arithmetic of making a
facility viable to commence and be sustainable in the long
run. Thus, even the facilities being set up by airlines (in
conjunction with established MRO expertise) would require
third party business to sustain operations, thereby throw-
ing up spin-offs for the corporate sector. Supply chains set
up by the MROs to cater to specific types of aircraft would
then perhaps look for business from smaller aircraft in use
in the corporate sector.
Inherent risks would, of course, be the uncertainties
involved in the MRO market and the chances of it assum-
ing an oligopolistic hue (a situation where there are so
few sellers that none can influence price) given the small
number of players entering it. The vagaries of government
policies, fluctuating market demands, and the economics of
comparison between an MRO facility in India and flying the
aircraft for maintenance work elsewhere in the region may
then dictate the sustainability of MROs set up for corporate
aviation in India. Corporate aviation engineering heads
would do well to seek professional advice on these trends
and plan their maintenance budgets accordingly. SP
 MILITARY UPGRADES
Surging
AHEAD
PHOTOGRAPHS: SP GUIDE PUBNS
There has been a great learning process in the
aviation industry in India, thanks to the DARIN I,
LCA and participation in Su-30 development
By Air Marshal (Retd) P.K. Mehra
T
he concluding chapter on the Indian Air
Force’s (IAF) fighter upgrade programmes
elaborates on the following fighter fleets:
• Jaguar upgrade
• ELTA radar on Maritime Jaguar
• MiG-29 upgrade
• Mirage 2000 upgrade
JAGUAR UPGRADE
Development of DARIN I system for Jaguar was done by a
team from the IAF, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and
LIFE EXTENSION: IAF JAGUAR
ROARING WINGS: IAF MIRAGES IN FLIGHT
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
under the aegis of the Inertial Nav-Attack System Integration
Organisation (IIO) nearly two decades back. The unfinished
task of upgrading the balance fleet has now been undertak-
en by HAL with an even improved version. The upgrade of
NAVWASS Jaguars and SOP of the newly built Jaguars to the
DARIN II standard has been undertaken by HAL.
There has been a great learning process in the aviation
industry in India, thanks to the DARIN I, LCA and partici-
pation in Su-30 development. The NAVWASS Jaguars have
now been fitted with a MIL-STD-1553B digital bus and
bus compatible LRUs (Line Replacable Units)
sourced from France, Israel and indigenous
HAL/BEL manufacture. The major avionics
components forming part of the DARIN II up-
grade are indigenous Core Avionics Comput-
ers, RLGINGPS, Wide angle 30 x 20 deg HUD
with FLIR and raster Video imagery, Active
Matrix LCD MFD, Video based HUD camera,
multi-channel colour video recorder. The in-
corporation of HOTAS concept and display of
digital maps, health monitoring of the vari-
ous systems has considerably improved the
man-machine interface. The indigenous RWR
and the imported ECM pod provide the essen-
tial protection to this strike aircraft, which is
still under powered for its future role. Non-
inclusion of air-to-air missile to replace the
original over wing Magic missile has left this
platform undefended. With greater usage of
PGMs it would be prudent to integrate an air-
to-air CCM on one of the outboard pylons.
Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 19
MILITARY UPGRADES

Development of RAM for reducing the RCS will enhance the MTBF and MTTR of each and every system so that we
survivability considerably. Growth potential, which was the do not repeat the mistakes committed during MiG-21 up-
bane of DARIN I has been adequately addressed with addi- grade. The OEM must ensure that the integration and per-
tional hardware functions and software. The RLGINS has
greatly improved the Navigation and Attack accuracies and
the integration of Litening pod has provided the Day and FINALLY: MIG-29 UPGRADES
Night capability for LGB attacks. HAVE RECENTLY BEEN
CONTRACTED TO RUSSIA
ELTA RADAR ON MARITIME JAGUAR
The original maritime Jaguars were fitted with AGAVE ra-
dar from Thales France. The AGAVE radar had become ob-
solete and hence Elta EL-2032 L/M radar was selected out
of the two short listed contenders. The installation and the
integration with the DARIN II system were done by HAL on
10 Jaguar aircraft. The nose cone was also changed and
that was to be developed and manufactured indigenously.
The radar is capable of picking ships at distances of 150
km and with the SAR and ISAR capability it is very easy to
identify the ships. This radar has very significant air-to-air
capability and with a CCM can enhance the self-defence ca-
pability considerably.

MIG-29 UPGRADE
After considerable delay, India recently awarded Russia the
contract to upgrade its multi-role MiG-29 warplanes. Ac-
cording to an air force official, the two post-Cold War allies
signed the deal to extend the life of India’s fleet of 70 MiG-29
jets another 15 years from their current 25 years. Upgrade
of MiG-29 involves three versions and is complicated be-
cause of the airframe modifications for conformal fuel tank
and carriage of under wing tanks in a few versions. MiG-29
has excellent handling qualities and any airframe modifica-
tion requires extensive data base, which is only available
with the OEM. The avionics upgrade is also very complex
since its present package is of older vintage and does not
provide the desired multi-role capabilities.
The avionics upgrade will essentially require a Mil-Bus
architecture with Mission computers, a phased array radar
capable of engaging multiple targets and matching air-to-
surface capability, changes in the display system through
installation of modern HUD and MFDs, RLGINS with GPS/
GLONASS for improved Navigation and Precision Attack,
EW/ECM package, dorsal fuel tank and other air intake
modifications for more fuel besides air-to-air refuelling,
present generation fire and forget BVR and other weapon
systems, HOTAS and other ergonomics improvements etc.
The upgrade must also include extension of TTL to 4,000
hours/40 years for future exploitation for another 20 years.
A RD-33 engine upgrade in terms of thrust, digital engine
control, substantial increase in TBO/TTL and concept of on-
condition maintenance would bring down the operating cost
of the aircraft. A data link has become inescapable for any
aircraft in future but this will have to be indigenous and will
have to be implemented throughout the Air Force.
Design and development will reportedly be carried
out by the Russians on two aircraft and the fleet would be
modified by HAL at Ozar. There may not be any choice in
this matter but IAF must factor in the fact that HAL has
so far never worked on MiG-29 and this fleet was being
overhauled by the BRD under the air force. More stringent
guarantees from the OEM must be obtained for meeting
formance of the weapon systems meets the specifications
and the Indian team must be provided adequate data and
knowledge so as to be capable of integrating new weapon
systems unilaterally.
MIRAGE 2000 UPGRADE
The upgrade of Mirage 2000 has also been mired in delays
but the reasons are somewhat different. At one time, the Mi-
rage 2000-5 was the front runner for the 126 aircraft MMRCA
deal and hence the upgrade SOP was linked with the SOP of
the MMRCA aircraft. Since the Mirage 2000 does not require
a life extension and only minimal upgrade of the engine, the
focus of the upgrade will be on replacing the obsolescent avi-
onics like the INS, Mission Computer, AI radar, HUD and Ac-
tive Matrix SMFDs, substantial improvements in the EW/ECM
package along with secured communication and data link.
New weapon systems will have to be integrated to keep the
aircraft as a formidable platform in future. Improved HOTAS
and installation of sensor platform along with helmet mount-
ed sighting system will ensure the effectiveness of the fleet.
Presumably, Dassault along with Thales will upgrade a
few aircraft in France and they will assist in upgrading the
rest of the fleet at HAL Bangalore. This upgrade is likely to
be very costly since the French Avionics equipment is com-
paratively more expensive than others and also IAF will
have to go in for new weapons. It would be prudent that the
upgrade of all fighter fleets include integration of weapons
from both eastern and western origin. SP

20 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008

 S PECIAL REPORT CELEBRATION

75
The Tigers turn
N
o. 1 Squadron—the first ever squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF)—
celebrated its Platinum Jubilee on April 1 at Air Force Station Gwalior.
Raised on April 1, 1933, the No. 1 Squadron, aka ‘The Tigers’, was
formed with Wapiti aircraft and is at present operating state-of-the-art
Mirage 2000s. The squadron has the distinction of taking part in 11 operations
pre- and post-Independence, including the 1937 operations in hostilities in North
West Frontier Province, 1961 Operation Vijay–Liberation of Goa, and the 1965
and 1971 Indo-Pak conflicts. In 1968, the squadron was conferred the prestigious
Presidential Colour. On its 75th anniversary, the squadron put up a ceremonial pa-
rade and fly-past. Present on the occasion were the Marshal of the IAF Arjan Singh
and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, besides a host of other
dignitaries. SP’s brings you the highlights of the event. SP
PHOTOGRAPHS: SP GUIDE PUBNS

IAF’S PRIDE: THE IAF’S IL-78 WITH MIRAGE 2000S IN A FLY

PAST; (LEFT) MARSHAL OF THE INDIAN AIR FORCE ARJAN
SINGH RELEASES A SPECIAL DAY COVER ON THE OCCASION;
(TOP) AIR WARRIORS DRILL TEAM PERFORMS AGAINST THE
BACKDROP OF NO. 1 SQUADRON’S MIRAGE 2000

Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 21

 CIVIL FLIGHT SAFETY
ICAOBeckons
PHOTOGRAPH: SP GUIDE PUBNS
Are Indian airlines ready to implement the diktats
laid down by the new safety management system?
I
By Group Captain A.K. Sachdev, Bangalore
ndia is one of 52 original signatories to the 1944
Convention on International Civil Aviation, the
charter of ICAO. Through its fledgling years, Indian
aviation has endeavoured to generally conform
with ICAO requirements and, as it consolidates
and grows impressively, the annexes to the con-
vention remain important to the Indian aviation
establishment. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
has committed itself to adopt ICAO’s Safety Management Sys-
tem (SMS) for all stakeholders in Indian aviation by January
2009. Considering the implementation of the SMS is expect-
ed to be an expensive and laborious exercise, the deadline of
January 2009 already appears to be a bit ambitious.
ICAO is pushing for the implementation of safety manage-
22 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008
ment systems by all aviation activities across the world as part
of its strategic focus on global civil aviation safety. It is aware
that many of its member states and some other organisations
have been involved in implementing safety management sys-
tems in various forms over the years. However, there was a
general lack of standardisation and some discrepancies with
regard to the key terms and concepts in use by them. ICAO
first introduced the requirement for safety management in
Annex 11 (Air Traffic Services) and Annex 14 (Aerodromes,
Volume I—Aerodrome Design and Operations).
Subsequently, it felt the need for expanding the concept
and including matching provisions with other annexes of the
Chicago Convention. Starting 2005, ICAO initiated efforts to
harmonise these endeavours and to combine all its safety
CIVIL FLIGHT SAFETY
management guidance into a single, comprehensive docu-
ment called the Safety Management Manual (more familiar
to aviation professionals by its numeric identifier ICAO Doc
9859). The manual is a comprehensive, single source docu-
menting how aviation ought to be managed, and sets the
stage for the introduction of safety management. In order
to reinforce the notion of safety management being a mana-
gerial process, the ICAO safety management requirements
include provisions for an organisation to establish lines of
safety accountability throughout the organisation, as well as
at the senior management level.
KEY CONCEPTS
The ICAO requirements in relation to safety management in-
volve two related but distinct and differentiated key concepts.
The first one imposes upon member states (of the ICAO) the
responsibility for establishing a safety programme. The sec-
ond, as part of such a safety programme, require that air
operators, maintenance organisations, air traffic services
providers and certified aerodrome operators implement an
SMS. To reiterate, an SMS is seen by the manual as a concept
drawing its inspiration from the state’s safety programme.
In other words, it is imperative on the state to first lay out
its policies and processes in a transparent and unequivo-
cal manner. Thereafter, the other stakeholders named above
could be expected to perceive and pursue a systematic ap-
proach to managing safety, including the necessary organi-
sational structure, accountabilities, policies and processes.
The ICAO Safety Management Manual is exhaustive and
even lays down (in its Chapter 12) the steps that needed to
be taken to establish an SMS. While admitting that no single
model could fit all stakeholders of the same variety (say all
operators), the chapter outlines the need for basic manage-
ment functions of planning, organising, communicating
and providing direction in the safety management process.
It lists (and elaborates upon) 10 steps for establishing an
SMS—planning, obtaining senior managements’ commit-
ment to safety, setting up an organisation for the SMS, haz-
ard identification, defining risk management, establishing
investigation capability, getting safety analysis capability,
safety promotion and training, safety management docu-
mentation and information management, and last but not
least, safety oversight and safety performance monitoring.
Thus, the steps outlined in the manual take a systems ap-
proach to the SMS, starting out with a plan and ending with
a loop closure, in a continual manner to set up and sustain
high standards of safety in the organisation.
ICAO IN INDIA
ICAO trainers have already visited India and held ‘train-the-
trainer’ programmes to elucidate the contents of the ICAO
manual. Under these programmes, organised by the DGCA,
officials have assimilated the basics of the safety programme
it is expected to have in place. Also the other stakeholders
have grasped the rudiments of the SMS they are to establish
by January 2009. However, comprehending the concept of
SMS and putting one in place are different things. The major
impediment would be the cost of setting up a structure that
supports the ICAO SMS philosophy.
As an illustration, the system envisages the placement
of Working Groups for all activity levels in the field. For
example, in the case of an airline, an Engineering Safety
Group would be required to oversee line engineering activ-
ity. The question is will an airline be able to afford to pay
additional engineering staff members who do not carry out
a line function but just ensure safety? Multiply this require-
ment by the number of bases/stations that an airline may
be operating from and the financial implication takes on
fearsome proportions.
Similar illustrations could be cited from all areas of
activity for all stakeholders. As a result, while the Indian
aviation industry is favourably disposed towards the SMS
concept because it holds the promise of safer operations,
the incremental cost of the additional safety is unlikely to
be painless for the stakeholders. Whilst COOs are likely to
sit on the fence over the issue of setting up full blown, for-
mal SMS structures—groaning at the cumbersome organi-
sation for SMS, and cooing at the perceived enhancement
of safety levels—the concept is sure to find opposition from
CFOs. “What is wrong with out present set up?” “Haven’t we
been safe all this while?” “What is the guarantee that risk
will reduce?” The end result could well be a lip (or should it
be pen?) service to the SMS concept through incorporation
in company manuals, without much consummation on the
ground in terms of additional assets and personnel.
ADOPTING A DUAL TRACK POLICY
DGCA, already stretched to its limits in terms of personnel
available for overseeing burgeoning aviation activity, will
find it difficult to ensure that all stakeholders put SMS into
place by the deadline. It could follow a dual track policy in
pursuit of the SMS objective. Firstly, it could—with all the
right noises being made—set up the safety programme it is
required to set up as a prelude to compliance by the stake-
holders. This will not only set the stage and the framework
for the others to locate their SMS’ in, but also send the right
message about DGCA’s resolve to stick to the deadline of
January 2009. Secondly, it could launch an indoctrination
campaign to persuade stakeholders that although there may
be moderately high initial costs of establishment of an SMS
and some recurring ones too, the additional margin of safety
would bring rewarding dividends in the long run by way of
increased customer satisfaction and confidence levels, lower
accident rates, and reduced costs of operation due to the
incorporation of safer practices.
Lure of higher revenues on all these counts may well be
the speculative carrot the DGCA could hold out to the stake-
holders, whilst letting the stick of possible regulatory mea-
sures show itself in the backdrop. This would bring about
the desired result of making aviation companies recognise
that effective management of safety would make good busi-
ness sense in the long run. This optimistic hope is encour-
aged by the fact that, despite cut throat competition and loss
making market conditions, our aviation companies have not
shown any dereliction of safety requirements (of the kind
which have brought Southwest Airlines such distasteful
publicity recently).
That said, whether all stakeholders have an SMS in place
by January 2009 or not really depends on how DGCA plays
its own cards. There are still nine months to go for the dead-
line, and if these nine months are to be used for creation, it
is time to start conceiving now. SP
Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 23
 AGatheringFORCE
MILITARY REGION

Many lessons are to be learnt from PLAAF’s implementation of acquisition

programme and China’s capability-enhancement to produce its own aircraft
PROUD POSSESSIONS:
Air Marshal (Retd) N. Menon, Bangalore 1. CHENGDU J-7 2. CHENGDU J-10 3. CHENGDU JL-9 4. CHENGDU J-8

G
5. NANCHANG J-12

enesis of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) 1 2

can be traced back to the Nanyuan Flying Group formed
in the summer of 1949. As the People’s Liberation Ar-
my’s (PLA) air arm, PLAAF, equipped with 40 aircraft,
was responsible for the defence of the then proposed
capital of China, Beijing.
Some historical perspective is necessary for a clearer understand-
ing of the PLAAF. China has a strong sense of history and its strategic
culture has evolved over a long period of dynastic cycles, where stable
dynasties preceded internal fragmentation and disorder. From such
disorder rose a leader who unified the country under a strong central
authority. Mao Tse Tung’s rise followed one such period of disorder.
3 4
Guided by the Marxist-Leninist philosophy, Mao consolidated political
and military power, and, more importantly, moulded the People’s Army
into an organ of the political party. Like in the Soviet Union, the party’s
writ was paramount in the PLA and its air arm. Loss of influence in the
19th century, with Britain taking control of Hong Kong and five other
ports, the invasion by Japan in the 20th century followed by conflicts
with its neighbours, including Russia, India and Vietnam, and wars
against the forces of the US and South Korea, compelled the PLA and
the PLAAF to give primacy to defending the country, thereby evolving
into regional defence forces. Border security became the primary mis-
sion and as a historical corollary, this has long-term implications for
India; China’s territorial claims became non-negotiable.
The Soviet Union extended assistance to the fledgling PLAAF 5
in the early 1950s and helped the People’s Republic set up aircraft
production facilities. PLAAF pilots were trained in Soviet tactics and
PHOTOGRAPHS: AIRLINERS.NET

some took part in the Korean War against the USAF. By the late 1950s,
Chinese factories were licence-producing aircraft in large numbers.
These were MiG-15 (J-2), MiG-15Bis (J-4), MiG-17 (J-5) and the MiG-
19 (J-6). The break in relations with the Soviet Union dealt a double
blow to China. The aircraft industry nearly collapsed and a new and
powerful enemy appeared on the northern flank, though the PLAAF
was not involved in any border skirmishes with the Soviets. The indus-
try began to recover by 1965 and China produced its first indigenous
fighter, the J-8, a mix and match of various Soviet designs. bombing and independent air regiments. PLAAF was well integrated
Being an offshoot of the PLA, the PLAAF, too, was organised on into the PLA with the army headquarters controlling all functions of the
army lines. There were four branches, air defence, ground attack, PLAAF through an Air Force Directorate. The largest air force organi-

24 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008

MILITARY REGION

sational unit was the Division comprising 17,000 personnel divided na Sea between the Philippines and Vietnam. Considered to be oil-rich,
into 3 regiments. Each regiment was further sub-divided into 3 squad- these have been the subject of a six-nation territorial dispute. China,
rons of 3 flights, each holding three to four aircraft. The predominantly Taiwan and Vietnam have laid claim to all the 90-plus islands, while
air defence-oriented force had 200,000 personnel controlling about the other three claim some of the islands. To be effective in a military
100 surface-to-air missile units and more than 15,000 anti-aircraft situation in the Spratleys, the PLAAF needs to possess extended range
gun batteries. Nearly 20 regiments also possessed early warning and strike with in-flight refuelling capability, precision maritime ‘kill’ ca-
ground control interception radars. pability to support its navy, reconnaissance aircraft and effective com-
The Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s severely affected mand and control platforms. The other potential flash point, Taiwan, is
the PLAAF with technical and maintenance schools remaining shut central to Chinese military modernisation. Should Taiwan make a bid
for long periods. Intervention by the notorious Red Guards led to dis- for independence, China would view it as a direct challenge to its in-
ruptions in aircraft production and pilot training. An inflexible regi- tegrity, resulting in a conflict that might involve the US. Modernisation
men was imposed and pilot training, already hampered by outdated needs of the PLAAF to meet this challenge closely match the require-
aircraft and basic simulators, lagged, with air exercises and manoeu- ments for Spratleys. The difference would be that both Taiwan and the
vres being strictly controlled by ground control operators under the US have forces that are better equipped and trained.
watchful eyes of party cadres. In the 1980s, the primary mission of the The modernisation process began by acquiring Su-27 and Su-35
PLAAF continued to be air defence of the mainland and a majority of aircraft in early 1990s and the development of fourth generation com-
the 5,600 aircraft was assigned this role. Few aircraft were designated bat aircraft, including the indigenous J-10 and, the JF-17 in collabora-
for interdiction and ground attack with some bombers reserved for tion with Pakistan. Obsolete aircraft were retired and efforts made to
nuclear missions. The PLAAF had very limited capability in roles such further improve pilot training. A reduction in the overall number of
as deep strike or military airlift. aircraft resulted, with concurrent qualitative benefits for the PLAAF.
In the late 1980s, the PLAAF made serious efforts to improve the China’s astounding economic growth has accelerated the moderni-
quality of its human resources. The bar was raised for fresh intake and sation momentum and the 21st century has witnessed the acquisition
pilot training was given a sharper focus. The period of training to pro- of 105 Su-30MKK during the period 2000 to 2003 and 100 upgraded
duce a combat ready pilot was brought down from four to two years. Su-30MKK2 in 2004. China has produced more than 200 J-11s since
Technical and tactical skills along with flight safety were accorded 2002. The PLAAF also bought a total of 126 Su-27SK/UBK in three
greater emphasis. The western nations, exploiting the rift between the batches. The production of J-10 fighter began in 2002 and 1,200 are
Soviet Union and China, extended considerable aid to the PLAAF in on order. The H-6 bombers (Tu-16 Badger) were converted into Flight
the late 1980s. Western avionics were incorporated into the J-7 (MiG- Refuelling Aircraft. In 2005 the PLAAF unveiled plans to acquire 70
21 copy), the J-8 and the A-5 ground attack fighter. Western technol- Il-76 transport aircraft and 30 Il-78 tankers to significantly upgrade
ogy also helped in the development of strategic airlift capability and offer ex-
the B-6D Bomber, the HQ-2J high alti- tended range to the fighter force. The
tude SAM and the C-601 air-launched Collapse of the Soviet US Department of Defence has reported
anti-ship missile. Support from the
west ended abruptly in 1989 with the
Union in 1991 proved to that Su-27SKs are being upgraded to the
multi-role Su-27SMK status. The PLAAF
Chinese crackdown on protestors in the be a boon to China and is also organising a combat air wing for
infamous Tiananmen Square incident.
Collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
the PLAAF as many a future aircraft carrier group, possibly
based on the Su-33, which is a carrier
proved to be a boon to China and the displaced scientists, capable variant of the Su-27. Many ex-
PLAAF. Apart from a formidable en- engineers and technicians isting fighters are being upgraded, some
emy being neutralised, many displaced to night maritime strike role, permitting
scientists, engineers and technicians joined the Chinese carriage of Russian weapons, includ-
from the erstwhile Soviet Union found military industrial centre. ing Kh-31A anti-radiation cruise mis-
employment in the Chinese military in- sile and KAB-500 laser-guided muni-
dustrial complex. In an effort to survive, tion. China is also developing special
the Russian aircraft industry was more mission aircraft including the KJ-2000
than willing to sell modern aeroplanes AWACS based on Il-76 platform. The Y-8
and technology to China. The booming transport planes are being modified to
Chinese economy could afford to import undertake a variety of roles of Airborne
the best that was on offer. Analysis of the Gulf war led the Chinese to Battlefield Command, AEW and intelligence gathering.
conclude that the defeated side was primarily lagging behind in mod- Comprising seven ‘military regions’ at Beijing, Chengdu, Guang-
ernisation and weak in fighting capacity. The effective and hitherto zhou, Jinan, Lanzhou, Nanjing and Shenyang, the PLAAF is heavily
unprecedented employment of air power by western nations made the biased towards China’s eastern coast, with some forces in the heart-
Chinese realise the need for rapid modernisation of the PLAAF. land and very little in the western region. China’s airborne corps and
To comprehend better the trajectory of PLAAF modernisation, Chi- divisions operate directly under the PLA. To shed its dowdy image, the
na’s assessment of its potential conflict zones should be understood. force has rid itself of obsolete aircraft and equipment and now plans
Territorial disputes with Russia, India and Vietnam remain largely un- to develop its own fifth generation fighter, the J-XXX. There are many
resolved but a combination of diplomacy and trade has pushed these lessons to be learnt from PLAAF’s implementation of its acquisition
to the background. A border agreement has been signed with Russia programme and China’s capability-enhancement to develop and pro-
and talks are on with India. But what India needs to remember is that duce its own aircraft. India and the IAF would derive benefit by creat-
China never forgets. Two high priority conflict scenarios remain—the ing a core group of professionals mandated to focus on and analyse
Spratley Islands and Taiwan. The Spratley Islands are in the South Chi- this remarkable transformation process. SP

Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 25

 CIVIL BUSINESS AVIATION

NetJets fliesintoINDIA
World’s leading private jet operator forays into Indian market
By SP’s Team

D
rawn to the growing demand for private jet travel
in India, coupled with a 400 per cent increase in the
number of NetJets business jet flights to and from
the country, the Berkshire Hathaway company and
world’s leading private jet operator has forayed into the In-
dian market. Declaring its strategic partnership with Ashish
Chordia, CEO of Shreyans, on March 19, NetJets is poised to
offer business jet services to Indian corporates and business
bigwigs looking to travel abroad. The company is also consid-
ering its options in the domestic market, including working
with additional local partners. Chordia has previously repre-
sented luxury brands, including Porsche, Fendi, and Van Cleef
and Arpels, in India.
PHOTOGRAPH: ASHESH SHAH

Speaking on the occasion, Director of Marketing for Net-

Jets Europe Robert Dranitzke said: “India’s economy is boom-
ing and in today’s global marketplace, more and more Indian
companies are investing and doing business abroad. We look
forward to working with Ashish Chordia to service the Indian
community.” In response, Chordia said: “NetJets’ global lead-
ership position and their unparalleled commitment to safety
make their service offering attractive for many Indian busi-
nessmen and women.” A pioneer and world leader in fraction- INDIA DEBUT: (LEFT TO RIGHT) NETJETS DIRECTOR OF SALES (EUROPE)
al aircraft ownership, NetJets currently has operations in the ROBERT DRANITZKE, DIRECTOR OF SALES (NORTH AMERICA) GRAEME
WESTON, INDIAN PARTNER ASHISH CHORDIA AND EXECUTIVE VICE
US, Europe and the Middle East. Fractional aircraft ownership PRESIDENT JOHN COLOCCI AT A PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE THE
allows individuals and companies to enjoy all the benefits and COMPANY’S FIRST FORAY INTO THE INDIAN MARKET
more of owning their own jet at a fraction of the cost. SP

FLY IN STYLE
NetJets Inc. is the pioneer and worldwide leader in fractional aircraft Miscellaneous: Includes variable fuel surcharge and international fees
ownership. NetJets began in 1964 as the first aircraft charter company. for travel outside the US, as applicable, plus 7.5 per cent applicable
Today, NetJets offers not only fractional aircraft ownership but also jet excise tax.
cards through an exclusive alliance with Marquis Jet Partners, and aircraft
management and on-demand charter services through its subsidiary, Ex- LIGHT CABIN MIDSIZE CABIN LARGE CABIN
ecutive Jet Management. NetJets flies to over 173 countries each year and Citation Bravo 18 Hawker 800XP 89 Falcon 2000/2000EX 53
offers 15 models of the best light, midsize and large cabin business jets.
Citation V Ultra 60 Hawker 900XP 6 Gulfstream 400/IV-SP 41
AT WHAT COST? Hawker 400XP 50 Citation 32 Gulfstream 450 14
Sovereign
Acquisition Cost: The one-time purchase of the asset. Citation Encore 19 Citation X 69 Gulfstream V 8
Monthly Management Fee: Covers indirect operating costs, including pilot
Citation Excel/XLS 135 Gulfstream 200 33 Gulfstream 550 12
salaries, training, hangaring, insurance and owner services support.
Boeing Business Jet 2
Occupied Hourly Fee: Covers flight specific direct operating costs, including
standard fuel, maintenance, catering (for small and midsize aircraft) and Aircraft under 110
landing fees. management*
*Includes EJM and NetJets Europe Aircraft

26 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008

 Hall of Fame
T
HE EARLY DECADES OF
the last century witnessed
a veritable flurry of avia-
tion activity. A new mode
of transportation was–
–literally––getting off the ground.
India, however, was largely unaf-
fected. If, a century later, Indian
aviation is flourishing, the credit
should go largely to J.R.D. Tata.
Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata
was born on July 29, 1904. Many
PHOTOGRAPH: WIKIPEDIA
found his name quite a mouthful, so
his friends called him Jeh while the
world knew him simply as J.R.D.. It
is not likely he had many enemies.
J.R.D. was the son of Ratanji Dada-
bhoy Tata and Suzanne Briere. His
mother was French and he later
married a Frenchwoman, Thelma Vi-
caji. He adored France. India is rath-
er fortunate that the lure of France
never overcame J.R.D.’s sense of duty
to this country––a cause to which he
devoted more than half a century.
Jeh’s childhood in France was the
crucible of his lifelong love for avia-
tion. Louis Bleriot, the first person to
fly across the English Channel, was
a neighbour. Jeh often played with
Bleriot’s son and they witnessed
many of the early flights. Jeh was 15
when he went up for his first joyride.
J.R.D. commenced flying training in
1929 and went solo after just three
and half hours of dual flying. Subse-
quently, he obtained a commercial
pilot’s licence––perhaps the first In-
dian to do so within India—bearing
the No. 1. A year later, when the Aga
Khan offered a prize of £500 to the
first Indian to fly solo from India to
England, Jeh took off from Karachi
in a Gypsy Moth intending to reach
England and claim the prize. How-
ever, at Aboukir in the Egyptian des-
ert, he encountered Aspy Engineer,
a competitor, who was attempting
the trip in the reciprocal direction.
Aspy’s spark plug had quit and Jeh
very generously gave him his spare
plug enabling Aspy to complete the race
and win the prize. Aspy later became
the second Indian Chief of the Royal In-
dian Air Force.
Indian commercial aviation formally
began on October 15, 1932, at Drigh
Road near Karachi, from where J.R.D.
got airborne in a Puss Moth; his destina-
tion the Juhu mud flats. The de Havil-
land DH 80A Puss Moth had a crew of
one and carried one to two passengers.
Its top speed was almost 200 km/hour,
one of the fastest at the time. This is
J.R.D.’s ecstatic account: “On an exciting
J.R.D. Tata
(1904 – 1993)
“On an October dawn in
1932, a Puss Moth and I
soared from Karachi on an
inaugural flight to Bombay.
As we hummed towards our
destination, I breathed a
silent prayer for the success
of our venture.We were a
small team.We shared
successes and failures, joys
and headaches, as we built
up the enterprise which
blossomed into Air-India
and Air-India International.”
October dawn in 1932, a Puss Moth and
I soared joyfully from Karachi with our
first precious load of mail, on an inau-
gural flight to Bombay. As we hummed
towards our destination at a ‘dazzling’
hundred miles an hour, I breathed a si-
lent prayer for the success of our venture
and for the safety of those who worked
for it. We were a small team in those
days. We shared successes and failures,
the joys and headaches, as together we
built up the enterprise which later
was to blossom into Air-India and Air-
India International.”
Such was the humble birth of
Tata Aviation Service. For some
years it had only two single-engine
planes, with a lone pilot on the pay-
roll. There were no navigational
aids or radio. Tata Aviation Service
later became Tata Airlines, then Air-
India International. Though J.R.D.
Tata became the fourth Chairman
of the entire Tata Group in 1939,
the airline was his lifelong passion.
He regularly travelled Air-India and
took copious notes while flying. His
keen eye captured every little detail.
As soon as he landed, he began the
process of ‘making things better’. It
is doubtful if Air-India could have
achieved the commanding heights
it did without J.R.D.’s hands-on ap-
proach. He transformed it from
just another airline into one of the
world’s best. This continued even
after it was nationalised in 1953. In
the fiercely competitive internation-
al airline business his dedication
made the difference. Not for nothing
was he later christened the father of
Indian civil aviation.
In 1992, J.R.D. was awarded
the Bharat Ratna––India’s highest
civilian honour––the only industri-
alist and one of very few persons
ever to be so recognised during
their lifetime. His comment when
he heard the news was typically
modest: “Why me? I don’t deserve
it. The Bharat Ratna is usually given
to people who are dead or it is given
to politicians. I am not prepared to
oblige the government on the for-
mer and I am not the latter.”
J.R.D. Tata was polite and cour-
teous to a fault. He had a rare fe-
licity with words and some of his
quotations are the stuff of which
legends are made. His letters to
various personalities are a joy to
read––beautifully composed, elegantly
expressed, they reveal him as a warm,
considerate and endearing person with
a keen sense of humour. He died on No-
vember 29, 1993 in a Geneva hospital
at the age of 89. SP
— Group Captain (Retd)
Joseph Noronha,
Goa
Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 27
NEWS Digest
MILITARY
Asia-Pacific
Agni-1 test fired
successfully
The Agni-1 (A1) missile, a
strategic surface-to-surface
missile with a range capabil-
ity of 700 km, was success-
fully launched on March 23
from Island Launch Complex
off Dhamra, Orissa by an
army unit. The missile had
a textbook performance in
terms of range, accuracy
and lethality. Following the
boost phase, the missile
successfully transitioned to
its ramjet operation and ac-
celerated to its operational
speed. Defence Minister A.K.
Antony and Minister of State
for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju
congratulated the scientists
and the operations team of
Strategic Force Command
for adding yet another
milestone in the area of
strategic defence.
Review of Defence
Procurement Policy
India’s Defence Minister A.K.
Antony, in a written statement
in Rajya Sabha, intimated
that the Defence Procurement
Procedure (DPP) 2006 was
promulgated with effect from
September 1, 2006 to ensure
expeditious procurement of
the approved requirements of
the armed forces in terms of
capabilities sought and time
frame prescribed. DPP 2006
provides for review of the
procurement procedure after
every two years.
India, China may hold
joint air force exercise
As a part of broadening
defence cooperation, China
and India are now consider-
ing holding a joint military
exercise between the air
forces. The two countries held
first-ever joint army exercise
in a ground-breaking confi-
dence building measure at
Kunming in China’s Yunnan
province in December 2007.
“‘We favour scaling up the
military-to-military ties with
India and as part of the efforts,
the two countries are holding
talks for joint military exercise
between the air forces,” said
Chinese Defence Attache in
Delhi Li Chao.
28 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008
Europe
US weapons to Kosovo ille-
gal: Russian Foreign Minister
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov has sharply criticised
the US decision to authorise
military assistance to Kosovo,
saying such a move would
break international law as a
United Nations Security Council
resolution prohibits any arms
supplies to Kosovo, except to
UN forces. US President George
Bush has authorised military
aid to Kosovo in another step to
establish formal relations with
the newly independent country.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica called the decision
“another deeply wrong move”
by the US that could lead to ter-
rorism in the Balkans.
France to cut nuclear arsenal
to less than 300 warheads
French President Nicolas Sar-
kozy has announced France
would cut its nuclear arsenal to
less than 300 warheads, about
half of its Cold War number,
even as he called for a strong
French defence, and warned
of threats to Europe’s security
and of the specific threat posed
by Iran. In a widely broadcast
speech, Sarkozy suggested
new powers, including Iran,
were developing ballistic mate-
rials and called on the US and
China to ratify a nuclear test
ban treaty signed by the two
more than 40 years ago.
Gripen successfully fires
Meteor in Sweden
Gripen has conducted another
successful live firing with the
MBDA’s beyond visual range
Meteor air-to-air missile, prov-
ing once again its reliability as
a platform for the integration
and testing of complex future
missile systems for the world’s
new generation combat
aircraft. Gripen is the first and
so far only new generation
fighter aircraft to launch the
Meteor. The firing was carried
out from against a MQM-107B
‘Streaker’ high-subsonic sub-
scale aerial target. The missile
was rail-launched from the
Gripen flying at 0.9 Mach and
at an altitude of 18,000 ft.
Elbit Systems to supply
Skylark I UAV to France
Elbit Systems Ltd will sup-
ply Skylark I UAV systems to
France’s Special Forces as it
won a tender involving 10 of
the leading UAV manufactur-
ers worldwide. This contract
marks Elbit Systems’ first UAV
contract with France. The
Skylark advanced mini-UAV is
a unique man-pack configura-
tion designed for day and night
observation and data collection
‘beyond the hill’ up to dis-
tances of 10 km. The mini-UAV
system is equipped with an
exceptionally quiet electric mo-
tor, totally autonomous flight
and outstanding observation
capabilities allowing for easy
operation and orientation.
Americas
Northrop Grumman’s Global
Hawk sets endurance record
Northrop Grumman Corpora-
tion’s RQ-4 Global Hawk set
an endurance record for a full-
scale, operational unmanned
aircraft on March 22 when
it completed a flight of 33.1
hours at altitudes up to 60,000
ft over Edwards Air Force
Base, California. Designated
AF-8, the first Global Hawk
Block 20, tail no. 04-2015,
surpassed both the official and
unofficial world un-refuelled
endurance records previously
held by the Block 10 variant.
‘As oil prices climb, Boeing
767 most cost efficient’
Boeing reports that the US Air
Force likely would pay up to
$30 billion (Rs 1,19,926 crore)
more in fuel bills over 40 years
to operate a fleet of 179 Airbus
A330-200 aerial refueling
tankers, compared to a similar
number of tankers based on
the Boeing 767-200ER. The as-
sessment is based on a Conklin
& de Decker Aviation Informa-
tion study funded by Boeing.
Lockheed Martin’s ICBM
reentry system upgrade
contract to continue
Lockheed Martin has received
a $23.9 million (Rs 95 crore)
QuickRoundUp
AGUSTAWESTLAND
• The first of three brand-new
AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters,
configured entirely for search and
rescue, were welcomed at the MCA’s
new state-of-the-art hangar at the
Lee-On-The-Solent airfield UK.
• AgustaWestland has selected the
Total Support Services alliance to
provide avionics support to the Sea
King Integrated Operational Support
programme for a further five years.
AIRASIA
• AirAsia X, the new long-haul low
cost-carrier within the AirAsia Group,
has signed a firm contract for an
additional 10 A330-300s, which
brings the airline’s total order to 25
A330 aircraft. In June 2007, AirAsia X
placed a first order of 15 A330s.
AIRBUS
• Airbus wishes to clarify that it is
continuing with the negotiations for
the divestments of sites in France,
Germany and the UK. The sites con-
cerned are Filton (wing component
part) in the UK, St Nazaire-Ville and
Meaulte in France, Varel, Nordenham
and Laupheim as well as the Augs-
burg site of EADS, in Germany.
• According to the latest Airbus
Global Market Forecast over the next
20 years, Russia will require more
than 900 aircraft to meet demand for
aircraft replacement as well as fleet
growth. The additional aircraft will
include nearly 800 short haul-single
aisle aircraft.
ALENIA AERONAUTICA
• Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica
company, has successfully completed
the ‘ultimate load testing’ of the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner horizontal
stabilizer. The test is a fundamental
step as part of Boeing’s 787 certifica-
tion efforts, and is vital to clearing
the Dreamliner for first flight.
AVIANCA
• Avianca has announced that it has
signed a 15-year OnPoint solution
agreement with GE Aviation’s Services
business for the maintenance and
overhaul of the CFM56-5B engines
that power the airline’s fleet of 50
Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.
NEWS Digest
APPOINTMENTS
AIR MARSHAL S.C. MUKUL
With effect from April 1, Air
Marshal S.C. Mukul took over
as Air Officer Command-
ing-in-Chief of Southern Air
Command on retirement of
the previous incumbent, Air
Marshal Y.R. Rane.
AIR MARSHAL N.V. TYAGI
Air Marshal N.V. Tyagi, with
effect from April 1, took over
as Senior Air Staff Officer
(SASO), South-Western Air
Command. The post was
vacated by Air Marshal S.C.
Mukul on his move to South-
ern Air Command.
contract modification from
Northrop Grumman Corpo-
ration to provide hardware
components for the next phase
of full-rate production for the
Minuteman III Intercontinental
Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Safety
Enhanced Reentry Vehicle
(SERV) programme. The con-
tract is for the third of four
phases of full-rate production
in which Lockheed Martin will
deliver an additional 120 full-
rate production SERV hard-
ware kits by December 2010.
Greenland’s Upgraded Early
Warning Radar complete
Raytheon Company has
completed the construction
phase of the UEWR at Thule
Air Base, Greenland, signify-
ing the facility’s readiness
to begin hardware installa-
tion and integration. As the
prime contractor, Raytheon
will integrate new electronics,
computer hardware and mis-
sion software to upgrade the
existing two-faced, phased-
array antenna facility at the
remote site. Raytheon will
also support integrated tests
of the Thule UEWR, perform-
ing both missile defense and
legacy missions. The UEWRs
add missile defense capabili-
ties to the Raytheon-developed
PAVE PAWS and Ballistic
Missile Early Warning System
radars, while continuing their
missile warning and space
surveillance missions, which
are performed by US Air Force
Space Command.
US recovers missile parts;
Gates orders investigation
INDIA CIVIL AVIATION WEEK AIRPORT & AIRLINE 2008 QuickRoundUp
EXPO STRIKES A BUOYANT NOTE BELL HELICOPTER
A
irport management, air space man- • Bell Helicopter Amarillo Military
agement, general aviation in India, Aircraft Assembly Centre played host
corporate jet and helicopters, avia- to the 100th V-22 Osprey Aircraft
tion training and manpower needs, and Ceremony. The Bell Boeing event
air cargo development challenges in In- recognized the achievements of the
dia were some of the key areas that drew vendors, suppliers and workers who
the attention of delegates and dignitar- built the aircraft.
ies at the three-day India Civil Aviation
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Week Airport & Airline 2008. BOEING
addresses the congregation Striking a buoyant note in his in-
augural address on March 18, Minister • The Boeing Company has confirmed
THE 2ND CIVIL AVIATION WEEK for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said, “The an order for three NextGen 737s by
AIRPORT & AIRLINE 2008 EXPO, conference comes at an important time Turkmenistan Airlines. The order for
CONCLUDED RECENTLY IN DELHI AND in the Indian aviation industry that is ex- two 737-900ERs and one 737-700 is
ATTENDED BY 146 EXHIBITORS FROM pected to enjoy a compounded growth of worth approximately $221 million (Rs
18 COUNTRIES, HOSTED THE FIRST about 25 per cent per annum for the next 884 crore) at list prices.
EVER ROUNDTABLE CONFERENCE 10 years.” Elaborating on the purpose of
OF CEOS FROM THE SECTOR hosting the event, Prem Behl, Chairman, • The Boeing Company has been
Exhibitions India Group observed, “This awarded a $130 million (Rs 520
exhibition provides a platform that en- crore) US Air Force contract to
ables international as well as domestic brands to showcase latest products, services upgrade 16 Air Force and Air National
and technologies aimed at improving the quality and ease air travel in India.” In a Guard F-15C Eagles with the APG-
similar vein, Dr K. Ramalingam, Chairman, Airports Authority of India added, “I am sure 63(v) 3 Active Electronically Scanned
that Airport & Airline 2008 Expo will provide a good opportunity to all concerned with Array (AESA) radars.
civil aviation to develop the way forwards for the Indian civil aviation industry.”
The inaugural day also saw the presentation of Air Passengers Association of India • The Boeing Company has been
Excellence Award to recognise the leaders in the aviation industry across various fields. awarded a US Air Force contract to
Billed as one of the biggest expos in the country, the event drew enthusiastic response integrate the Joint Helmet-Mounted
and participation from the industry. Cueing System into 145 F-15E air-
craft. The contract includes hardware
and installation services on the
The US military has regained announced that the Govern- aircraft, as well as initial pilot equip-
control of four non-nuclear ment of Iraq has placed a firm ment, such as helmets and visors.
nose cone assemblies for a order for six CRJ900 NextGen
Minuteman missile mistakenly airliners at an approximate BOMBARDIER
sent to Taiwan in 2006, Air cost of $239 million (Rs 955
Force Secretary Michael W. crore) which will be used for • Grupo SATA has signed a contract
Wynne said during a news civilian airline services. The to acquire four Bombardier Q400
conference. Defense Secretary NextGen aircraft for its SATA Air Acores
Robert M Gates learned of the regional airline. Based on the list
situation on March 21 and im- price of the Q400 NextGen aircraft,
mediately ordered that the US the value of the contract is around
regain “positive control” of the $113 million (Rs 452 crore).
systems, Wynne said. He also
notified the president of the DÉFENSE CONSEIL
situation. The nose cone as- INTERNATIONAL AND
semblies and associated elec- PROTEUS HÉLICOPTÈRES
trical parts are proximity fuses
for the missiles. While not • France has recently finalised a
technically ‘triggers’, a nuclear transaction includes options 22-year contract with the Défense
warhead atop a Minuteman on an additional four CRJ900 Conseil International and Proteus
would not detonate without NextGen aircraft. If all options Hélicoptères group for purchasing
the signal from these devices. are exercised, the contract val- and implementing a helicopter fleet
It was the second incident ue could rise to approximately intended to replace ageing Gazelle-
with a strategic weapon in the $400 million (Rs 1,600 crore). type aircraft for the initial pilot
past year. CRJ NextGen aircraft were training of its officers from the three
launched in 2007 and have Armed Forces and Gendarmerie.
achieved improved economics
CIVIL compared to earlier CRJ series DEFENSE SECURITY
aircraft in terms of fuel use COOPERATION AGENCY
Asia-Pacific and maintenance costs.
• The Defense Security Cooperation
Bombardier sells six CRJ900 Panel recommends Indian Agency has notified Congress of a pos-
NextGen airliners to Iraq air navigation overhaul sible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of
Bombardier Aerospace have A committee tasked with rec-
Issue 3 • 2008 SP’S AVIATION 29
NEWS Digest
ommending improvements to
air navigation services in India
is calling for sweeping changes
to reduce air traffic delays
that would see more airspace
opened up for civilian use and
the number of flight informa-
tion regions cut in half. The
committee was established in
March last year with a brief
to formulate a master plan for
the further development of
India’s air navigation services,
which have been under great
strain in recent years as the
domestic air transport market
has been growing rapidly.
In addition to recom-
mending a further modernisa-
tion of voice communication,
datalink communication,
navigation, surveillance and
weather services systems, the
committee is calling for more
airspace that is currently set
aside for defence use to be
opened up for civilian use.
“A high-level committee of
the government should be
constituted for common use
of Indian airspace and for
working out ways of flexible
use of airspace. The commit-
tee feels that the IAF (Indian
Air Force) should review the
restricted and danger areas
expeditiously,” it says.
Europe
Dassault’s Falcon 2000DX
enters service
The Falcon 2000DX en-
tered service recently when
Dassault delivered the first
aircraft to a customer in the
Western United States. The
Falcon 2000DX replaces the
Falcon 2000 in Dassault’s
product line. The standard
equipped Falcon 2000DX
has exceptional airport
performance. It has a low ap-
proach speed of 112 kts and
can land with the fuel tanks
nearly full which allows it to
make short hops from city
to city to pick up passengers
then continue on long mis-
sions without refueling. The
30 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008
2000DX comes standard with
Dassault’s award winning
EASy flight deck. A recently
certificated Enhanced Flight
Vision System is available
as an option. The 2000DX
is powered by two Pratt &
Whitney Canada PW308C
engines, rated at 7,000 lbs
thrust (ISA + 15°C).
Americas
Embraer enters contract
with Brazilian Airline
Embraer has signed a
contract with the newest
Brazilian airline, command-
ed by businessman David
Neeleman, for the sale of 36
Embraer 195 jets. The agree-
ment also includes options
for another 20 aircraft and
purchase rights for 20 more.
The total value of the order,
at list price, is $1.4 billion
(Rs 5,599 crore), and could
reach $3 billion (Rs 11,997
crore), if all of the options
and rights of purchase are
confirmed.
Airline orders six CRJ700
NextGen aircraft
Bombardier Aerospace has
received a signed firm order
for six CRJ700 NextGen
regional jets. The airline
which placed the order has
also taken options on an ad-
ditional 10 aircraft, and has
requested to remain uniden-
tified at this time. Based on
the list price for the CRJ700
NextGen aircraft, the value
of the order is approxi-
mately $207 million (Rs 827
crore). If all 10 options are
exercised, the value of the
order could rise to approxi-
mately $562 million (Rs
2,247 crore).
SPACE
Americas
Lockheed Martin’s new
missile warning satellite
in critical test phase
Lockheed Martin announced
that the first Space-Based
Infrared System (SBIRS)
geosynchronous orbit (GEO-
1) spacecraft is progressing
through a series of key tests
that will demonstrate the
integrated satellite’s readiness
to enter the critical environ-
mental test phase in prepara-
tion for launch in late 2009.
SBIRS is designed to provide
early warning of missile
launches, and simultaneously
support other missions includ-
ing missile defence, technical
intelligence and battle space
characterisation. The test
phase, known as Baseline Inte-
grated System Test is designed
to characterise the overall per-
formance of the GEO-1 satellite
and establish a performance
baseline prior to entering envi-
ronmental testing.
Sixth GPS satellite built
by Lockheed Martin
launched successfully
A US Air Force modernised
GPS Block IIR (GPS IIR-M)
satellite, built by Lockheed
Martin, was successfully
launched from Cape Ca-
naveral Air Force Station
aboard a United Launch Al-
liance (ULA) Delta II launch
vehicle. Each IIR-M satel-
lite includes a modernised
antenna panel that provides
increased signal power to
receivers on the ground, two
new military signals for im-
proved accuracy, enhanced
encryption and anti-jamming
capabilities for the military,
and a second civil signal that
will provide users with an
open access signal on a dif-
ferent frequency.
INDUSTRY
Europe
EADS Military Transport
Aircraft Division
starts static testing
The static tests of a dedicat-
ed A400M complete struc-
ture has begun at the MTAD
facilities in Madrid. The aim
of this testing process is to
demonstrate the reliability
and integrity of the aircraft
structure and includes the
static testing of the complete
aircraft structure built for
QuickRoundUp
various vehicles, small arms and am-
munition, communication equipment,
medical equipment, and clothing and
individual equipment as well as as-
sociated equipment and services.
EMBRAER
• Embraer and Lebanese M1
Travel Ltd. confirmed options on three
Embraer 190 jets. The deal completes
the original order for five aircraft,
announced in February 2007 and
deliveries are scheduled to begin in
2009.
EUROFIGHTER
• An Austrian Air Force delegation led
by Brig General Hubert Norbret visited
Italian Air Force operational and sup-
port units to obtain first-hand informa-
tion in support of the introduction of
the Eurofighter Typhoon into Austrian
service. Austria is the fifth customer
for the state-of-the-art Typhoon and
received the first two aircraft of the
15 on order in late 2007.
HELLENIC AEROSPACE
INDUSTRY
• The 1st F-16 aircraft that has
undergone structural upgrade by Hel-
lenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) based
on the CCIP/STAR program has been
delivered to the US Air Force during
a ceremony that was held at the com-
pany facilities in Tanagra.
ITT AVIONICS
• ITT Avionics of US has being
awarded a modified firm fixed price
contract under Foreign Military Sales
for the procurement of ALQ-211(V)4
Advanced Integrated Defense Elec-
tronics Warfare system for Pakistan.
The system will be used on the
F-16 aircraft being procured under
separate acquisition by the F-16
programme office.
KOREA
• Korea has introduced a new UAV at
a convention also attended by leading
weapons manufacturers, including
Israel’s Rafael and Germany’s Micro
Drones. The convention is the first of six
to be held this year to help introduce
the latest defence items and technol-
ogy to the country’s military. The UAV is
mainly a reconnaissance plane, but it
can also deliver and drop off any items
weighing less than 800 gm.
NEWS Digest
SHOW CALENDAR
14 April-17 April
BATTLESPACE
INFORMATION 2008,
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Organisers: WBR
Email: wendy10@wbr.co.uk
URL: www.wbr.co.uk
22 April-24 April
AEROSPACE 2008:
THE WAY FORWARD
4 HAMILTON PLACE,
LONDON
Organisers: Royal
Aeronautical Society
Email: conference@raes.org.uk
URL: www.aerosociety.com/
conference
5 May-7 May
6TH ANNUAL AEROSPACE
& DEFENSE INDUSTRY
SUPPLIERS CONFERENCE,
THE JONATHAN CLUB, LOS
ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA
Organisers: SpeedNews
Email: jspeed@speednews.
com
URL: www.speednews.com/
defenseconference
14 May-16 May
ELECTRONIC WARFARE
2008, INTERLAKEN,
SWITZERLAND
Organisers: Shephard Confer-
ence and Exhibitions
Email: SC@shephard.co.uk
URL: www.shephard.co.uk/EW
27 May-29 May
HELI PACIFIC 2008
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
Organisers: Shephard Confer-
ences & Exhibitions
Email: SC@Shephard.co.uk
URL: www.shephard.co.uk/
heli-pacific
4 June-5 June
EXPANDING HORIZONS:
TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES
IN FLIGHT SIMULATION,
LONDON
Organisers: Royal
Aeronautical Society
Email: conference@raes.org.uk
URL: www.aerosociety.com/
conference
17 June-18 June
AIRPORTECH ASIA 2008,
SHANGHAI MARRIOTT
HOTEL HONGQIAO, CHINA
Organisers: Global
Leaders Institute
Email: mlg@globaleaders.com
URL: www.airportechsummit.com
testing and which will never
fly, the complete testing of
the horizontal tail plane and
the structural testing already
on the first aircraft assem-
bled at the final assembly
line in Seville.
Americas
GE Rolls-Royce fighter
engine team completes
F136 high-altitude tests
The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter
Engine Team has successfully
completed a high-altitude af-
terburner testing programme
at the US Air Force Arnold
Engineering Development
Centre including common ex-
haust hardware for the F-35
Lightning II aircraft. The F136
engine is a 40,000+ lb. thrust,
combat engine that will be
available to power all variants
of the F-35 for the US military
and eight partner nations.
The engine configuration
included a production-size
fan and functional augmenter
allowing several run periods
to full afterburner operation.
GE-Aviation is responsible for
60 per cent and Rolls-Royce
for the remaining 40 per cent
of the F136 programme.
Boeing flight tests imaging
radar aboard ScanEagle UAV
The Boeing Company, in
partnership with ImSAR
and Insitu Inc., has success-
fully flight-tested Nano-
SAR, the world’s smallest
Synthetic Aperture Radar
(SAR), aboard the ScanEagle.
During the 1.5-hour flight
ScanEagle, with ImSAR’s
NanoSAR payload installed,
completed several passes
over the target area at vari-
ous altitudes and ranges. The
targets included vehicles,
structures and corner reflec-
tors. Data collection onboard
the ScanEagle worked as
planned, and SAR imagery
was later created on the
ground. The next step in
flight testing will be to create
imagery aboard the UAV in
QuickRoundUp
real time. ScanEagle carries
inertially stabilised electro-
optical and infrared cam-
eras. The gimbaled cameras
allow the operator to easily
track both stationary and
moving targets. Capable of
flying above 16,000 feet and
loitering over the battlefield
for more than 24 hours, the
platform provides persistent
low-altitude reconnaissance.
Lockheed Martin F-35
succeeds in first
aerial refueling test
The Lockheed Martin F-35
Lightning II successfully
completed the first stage of its
airborne refueling tests dur-
ing the aircraft’s 34th flight.
During the test it climbed to
20,000 ft and performed a
series of manoeuvres to verify
the F-35’s compatibility with
the KC-135’s refueling boom
and its aerodynamic wake.
Aerial refuelling capability
will expand the F-35 operat-
ing envelope enabling longer
duration flights. The F-35
carries a prodigious amount
of internal fuel—more than
18,000 pounds—giving it
exceptionally long range.
Lockheed Martin US101 wins
US Presidential
helicopter contract
In June 2005, the US Navy
selected the US101 for a new
fleet of “Marine One” heli-
copters for the US President
which is an US variant of
AgustaWestland’s successful
EH101 multi-mission me-
dium helicopter and it beat
Sikorsky’s S-92 Superhawk
already in use as a VIP state
transport in many countries.
Lockheed Martin, which
leads Team US101 as prime
contractor, has received a
$1.7 billion (Rs 6,800 crore)
contract from the US Navy
for the Marine One program’s
systems development and
demonstration phase. •
Issue 3 • 2008
LOCKHEED MARTIN
• In a new analysis, Forecast Interna-
tional has projected that fighter air-
craft manufacturers will deliver 3,345
new fighters over the next 10 years.
According to the study, ‘The Market
for Fighter Aircraft 2008-2017’, it
is estimated that the total value of
production for the fighter market
during this timeframe will be worth
$164.5 billion (Rs 6,57,843 crore).
While annual fighter production is set
to average around 300 aircraft per
year through 2013, it will increase
to 400 aircraft per year in 2014 as
production of Lockheed Martin F-35
Lightning II/Joint Strike Fighter ramps
up later in the decade.
ORBITAL SCIENCE CORP
• Orbital Science Corp., Launch Sys-
tems Group of Chandler, Space Vector
Corp., L-3 Communications Corp.,
Coleman Aerospace of Orlando, and
ATK Launch Systems of ATK Launch
Systems have been awarded an
indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity
contract. This action will provide
multiple awards with a seven-year
ordering period.
RAYTHEON
• Raytheon Company has been
awarded two task orders as part of
a Missile Defense Agency contract
to operate and sustain the agency’s
X-Band radars. The first task order
provides management services for
the operation and sustainment of the
Raytheon-developed X-Band radar
(XBR) aboard the Sea-Based X-Band
radar (SBX) vessel. The second task
order covers day-to-day management.
ROLLS-ROYCE
• Rolls-Royce has announced that US
Airways has chosen Trent 700 engines
to power up to 30 Airbus A330-200
twinjets. The A330 order comprises
engines for 15 firm and up to 15
additional aircraft.
RUSSIAN SATELLITE
COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
• The Russian Satellite Communica-
tions Company has selected Khrunichev
Space Centre and Astrium (owned by
EADS) to build the Express AM4 com-
munications satellite to be delivered by
late 2010. It will use Astrium’s Eurostar
E3000 satellite design.
SP’S AVIATION 31
 LAST Word
Air India
Headin Place
ILLUSTRATION: RATAN SONAL
Considering his long association with the Ministry of
Civil Aviation and Air India, the new CMD is perhaps
aware that translating vision into reality may be a
more daunting challenge than his rhetoric indicates
A
demotion and an appointment served to elevate
Raghu Menon to the post of Chairman & Manag-
ing Director (CMD) of National Aviation Company
India Limited—the new flagship entity formed in
August 2007 after the merger of the two government-owned
national carriers and operating under the brand name Air
India. The Special Secretary and Financial Advisor in the
Civil Aviation Ministry took over from V. Thulasidas who
retired on March 31.
A 1974 batch IAS officer from Nagaland cadre, Menon
had withdrawn his name from the race as the post of Air
India’s CMD is on a par with Additional Secretary in the
central government and he had already been promoted to a
higher rung. Consequently, the final list submitted to the Ap-
pointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) did not feature
his name. But Minister of Civil Aviation Praful Patel would not
accept any other candidate for the post, whether insider or
outsider. Menon accepted demotion in favour of the high-pro-
file post, rendering fractious the elaborate process of vetting
and shortlisting from the 51 applicants recommended by a
committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
Eyebrows might be raised, but his appointment should
not come as a surprise as Menon enjoys fairly decent and
respectable credentials. Associated with the Ministry of Civil
Aviation for some years, having served earlier as Joint Sec-
retary and Additional Secretary, he has also been on the
Board of Air India. This is in fact the second time he has been
elevated to the post of CMD. On August 1, 2003, following
superannuation of then Air India CMD J.N. Gogoi, Menon
temporarily held charge for merely 14 hours, to be precise.
Coincidentally, then too, it was the Minister of Civil Aviation
in the NDA Government, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who nominated
him for the post.
Selection and appointment of the new CMD has not been
without its share of pulls and pressures. A number of heavy-
weights from the bureaucracy, the public sector and even
from within Air India had made it to the list. Each of the
shortlisted candidates had political patronage from within
the UPA Government. Joint CMD Air India V. Trivedi, believed
to be eminently qualified and the most logical choice to be
elevated to the post of CMD, had support from some quarters
32 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2008
within the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Unfortunately, he didn’t
have the endorsement of those who matter. Trivedi is likely to
be moved out to another PSU and the post of Joint CMD, cre-
ated specifically to accommodate him at the time of merger,
is reportedly being done away with.
Judging from the initial pronouncements, the new in-
cumbent appears to have a clear perspective of the state of
affairs in Air India. The company has accumulated losses
assessed to be in excess of Rs 800 crore and is still going
through its birth pangs as the process of integration of the
two airlines is being stoutly resisted by the powerful unions.
To regain competitive edge in the international and domes-
tic markets, Menon has identified key result areas and plans
to achieve customer satisfaction through high levels of ef-
ficiency, including on-time performance, ground handling
and maintenance. He proposes to achieve all this not by
shedding flab but by enhancing productivity. His pronounce-
ments read like a standard script drafted for a new CEO tak-
ing over any airline in India as practically all have the same
broad objectives and possibly face similar problems, albeit
in varying degrees. However, given his long association with
the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India, one would like to
believe that the new CMD has in-depth understanding of the
true state of affairs and realises that at this juncture, trans-
lating vision into reality may be a more daunting challenge
than his rhetoric indicates.
Passing through a critical phase, the airline is embarked
on a major renewal programme with 111 new aircraft on
order but delay in the delivery of the Dreamliner has adverse-
ly affected plans to expand network, forcing it to consider
leasing options temporarily. Menon must be well aware that
in the evolving economic order, Air India cannot retain its
relevance or compete as a public sector entity. Shedding its
image as a lethargic department of the government, Air In-
dia must transform itself into a vibrant private enterprise—a
metamorphosis more easily envisioned than accomplished as
it will demand profound change in work culture, ethos, value
systems and mindsets. More importantly, the new CMD would
also have to break free of the sterile framework of bureaucra-
cy to adopt dynamic corporate management practices. SP
— Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey
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