Bengaluru: Aero India, Asia’s premier air show, began in Bengaluru on Wednesday with over 300 foreign firms trying to align with the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ campaign in their bid to capture a slice of the Indian defence market.
The Air Force Station at Yelahanka hosted the 10th edition of the biennial five-day international edition of the aerospace and aviation exhibition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the show.
After the inaugural, addressing the gathering, Modi said, “We will build an industry that will have room for everyone – public sector, private sector and foreign firms. I am confident that India will emerge as a major global centre for the defence industry. We want to develop an industry that is dynamic. It should constantly stay at the cutting edge of the global industry”
“We must ensure that our tax system does not discriminate against domestic manufacture in comparison to imports and we must involve our scientists soldiers, academia, industry & independent experts more closely in research and development”, he added.
Besides this, 54 ministerial and other high-level delegations from several countries were present. The exhibition saw participation of over 600 companies, including 328 foreign firms.
The US, with 64 companies, had the biggest presence at the event that saw the participation of 33 other countries. France was the second biggest participant with 58 companies, followed by the UK with 48, Russia with 41, Israel with 25 and Germany with 17.
The number of business visitors is expected to rise by nearly 50% from the previous edition to 150,000 this year. The show is a big draw for aviation aficionados, who take close look at fighter, transport, helicopter and aerobatic display teams.
Spectacular Air Show
The number of aircraft participating in static and air displays has gone up this time, taking the number to over 70 now. Six aerobatic display teams, including the mind-boggling Sarang aerobatic team from the Indian Air Force (flying the Dhruvs), were seen warming up for the show.
Others include, the Scandinavian Air Show Team (Sweden), Aero Superbatics Limited and Airborne Service Limited (both from UK), Flying Bulls Aerobatic Team (Czech Republic) and the Open Sky Jump Team (US Special Forces).
India’s pride the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is expected to be the star attraction this time as well. With the government’s emphasis on ‘Make in India’ concept, all desi birds are likely to get special attention during the show.
The Indian flying team will also have LCH, Dhruv, Rudra, Sukhoi and Tiger Moth. Among the foreign military aircraft that will be seen at the air show include F-15C Eagle, Lockheed F-16C, Boeing KC-135, Boeing C-17, Rafale and Embraer EMB-145I.
The foreign civil aircraft participation includes PC-12 NG, Falcon 2000, Phenom 100E, Boeing B 75, Boeing A 75, Viking, Catwalk, WASP, RRJ 95, EMB 505, Bell 407 GX Helicopter, King Air 350 ER, 19-seater Turbo Prop AI Industry, Z Lin Z 50 LX, OmaSud Sky Car, Falcon 7 X and Dornier 228-New Gen.
The main highlight of the event are 3 girls from the Breitling Wing Walkers team, they are scheduled to walk on the wings of aircrafts and Red bull team will entertain the people gathered.
