Innovation and Indigenisation seminar by HQ SWAC IAF at Vadodara
Highlighted the necessity of self reliance in military aviation and the ever increasing role of private Indian industry in achieving the same.
Self-reliance is a major corner-stone on which the military capability of any nation must rest. There is also immense potential to leverage the manpower and engineering capability within the country for attaining self-reliance in design, development and manufacturing in defence sector. It is therefore of utmost importance that the concept of ‘Make in India’ remains the focal point of the defence.
With the same idea and step towards self reliance an ‘lnnovation and lndigenisation Seminar’ was conducted by HQ SWAC IAF at Air Force Station, Vadodara on 12 Jul 2019. Air Marshal HS Arora AVSM ADC, AOC-in-C SWAC highlighted the necessity of self reliance in military aviation and the ever increasing role of private Indian industry in achieving the same.
"Self reliance is utmost need of the hour and through this seminar we want to show the industries about our requirements and how they cater to our needs. We push Make In India concept and wants to give details about our process, certification and other parameters to the companies displayed their products in this seminar. We focus on less export and more dependence on Indian products," said Arora.
‘lndigenisation Opportunities in lAF’, ‘Technology Development Fund Scheme’ and ‘lndigenisation Procedures’ were presented during the seminar for the benefit of the industry. The seminar included talks by senior officials from DRDO, captains of Private Indian industry and senior officers from IAF towards increasing indigenous content in fielded military hardware.
The seminar was aimed at promoting indigenisation in IAF, strengthening private public partnership in self reliance and giving a boost to the ‘Make 'in llndia’ programme. During the seminar, 35 innovations undertaken by lAF units lin South Western Air Command were displayed. With extensive support from Govt of Gujarat and CH, Ahmedabad, 25 participants, mostly from the State of Gujarat, dealing in Defence and Aerospace also displayed their products and capabilities. Items identified for development by private Indian industry were also displayed and briefed to the potential vendors.
Gujarat government is also taking initiative in the field and plan to set up defence hub at Dholera. "The Dolera sector will have ancillary and defence hubs for the needs of IAF and other defence forces. We plan to set laboratories, testing and firing ranges, certification and other needs of the forces," said Air Marshal R.K. Phir PVSM, AVSM, VM (Retd) Advisor to Gujarat government.
The seminar witnessed keen participation by prospective vendors and proved beneficial for all stakeholders. It provided an insight to the industry on indigenisation requirements of IAF, airworthiness certification and quality assurance requirements for airborne indigenous products and the indigenisation procedures. It also helped IAF in understanding the potential of the vendors available in the country.
