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Pragati Maidan * suits or mostly casually outfitted, who entered Pragati Maidan suitably tagged and security checked. From main battle tanks and supersonic cruise missiles to camouflage netting and night vision devices, all these and very much more were contained in this metaphorical Pandora’s box. The exhibition was inaugurated by Defence Minister AK Antony who lit the traditional lamp. The Indian Navy band played the National Anthem to lend solemnity to the event which was attended by large number of foreign guests, senior officers of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, Ministry of Defence and CEOs of the Indian and foreign companies participating in the exhibition. Defence Minister AK Antony lights the traditional lamp at Pragati Maidan. The home country In his inaugural address Defence Minister AK Antony said that at the politicosecurity level, “India has always been recognised as a responsible power and stabilising factor in this region in the face of various security challenges originating from different sources around us. India has traditionally been a peace-loving nation. However, we have to be ready to meet any challenge to our territorial integrity and sovereignty. Our armed forces need to have access to the latest defence technologies, with the state-of-the-art PSOs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Integrated Defence Staff at the inaugural. Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Sidhu, DGMF, at the inauguration. platforms, equipment and systems to meet any threat. The Government’s efforts are directed towards modernisation of the Armed Forces.” The Minister of Defence observed that India’s defence expenditure in the recent past has been around 2% of the GDP which is consistent with the country’s security needs but, “with projected growth of the Indian economy expected at a trajectory of 8-10% for the next two decades, expenditure on defence is bound to increase.” The country has achieved a high level of indigenisation in defence and III/2012 Mr Vivek Rae, Director General Acquisitions at MoD. Dr Shivthanu Pillai, head of BrahMos. 83
“this is our thrust area. Our quest for selfreliance in defence underlines the growing importance of private sector participation on the one hand and revitalising the public sector on the other. Hence the emphasis is on public-private sector partnership in the defence industry. Enabling policy framework has been put in place to develop indigenous capabilities through harnessing the potential and unitising resources available, both in the public and the private sector. The country’s defence industry is now open to 100% Indian private sector participation, while foreign direct investment is permissible upto 26%.” Referring to the Defence Offsets policy, the Minister said that its scope has now been expanded to include Civil DRDO displayed the Prahar tactical ballistic missile (TBM) in 3x2 configuration mounted on a Tata transporter. Aviation, Internal Security and Training within the ambit of eligible products and services for discharge of offset obligations. As with the Defence Procurement Procedure, the Defence Offsets policy is being periodically reviewed and “further changes are expected in due course.” The Indian defence industry is open to enter into mutually beneficial agreements with “friendly countries” in the field of critical and state of the art futuristic defence technologies. At the same time, DefExpo 2012 would provide ample opportunities to Indian and foreign exhibitors to display their latest technologies and products and tap the market and business potential for mutual benefit. In conclusion, the Defence Minister announced that the 8th DefExpo India will be held during 6-9 February 2014 at New Delhi. But this time, the four-day DefExpo 2012 (29 March to 1 April) had over 560 exhibitors, 15 country pavilions, 32 participating countries, and hosted 58 official delegations, in the exhibition area of which measured 51000 square meters. Minister of State for Defence Dr MM Pallam Raju later stated that the government would encourage Joint Ventures and promote participation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in the defence industry sector. The Government, he added, was striving for self-reliance even while it remained committed to equip the armed forces with the latest equipment and weaponry. VK Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and Director General of DRDO, speaking at a press conference. Turbulence within–and without Defence Minister AK Antony addressed a Press Conference attended by a large number of print and electronic media. In fact, it was more of a question-and-answer session where the Minister answered queries in his characteristic manner and did not dodge even tricky ones concerning the COAS and recent revelations which was upper most in the news. “Strict action would be taken against the person found guilty of leaking the letter written by the COAS to the Prime Minister of India - we shall go to root of the matter and take stringent action”, the Minister emphasised. He also confirmed that six companies, four of them foreign and two Indian, had been “blacklisted” on account of complaints of malpractices, for a period 84 VAYU of 10 years, but accepted that this directly affected working of the ordnance factory at Nalanda. After its earlier partners — both foreign firms — were banned by the Defence Ministry, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) Nalanda has now begun to indigenously develop critical components needed for artillery shells, including for the Bofors howitzers. On the ongoing CNC pertaining to the MMRCA, the Minister was candid in stating in that even while the process was on, investigations have begun in parallel on complaints received on the process of the establishing of ‘L-1’. Mr Antony shared some statistics in that while the earlier ratio between defence equipment produced in the country and that imported was 30:70, this has now been reduced to 40:60 and indigenisation efforts continue apace. In reply to persistent queries regarding the perceived divide between the COAS and the Ministry of Defence, Mr Antony asserted that the Chiefs of Staff of the three Services “enjoyed his full confidence”. The Defence Minister cautioned that the media should act “in a manner to protect the prestige of the defence forces and make sure they do not demoralise our jawans and officers serving in difficult frontiers of the country”. Absolutely ! Now read on ! DRDO and PSUs The largest participation at DefExpo 2012 was of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) which took 1779 square metres of indoor area and another 1143 square metres outdoors. In fact DRDO’s missiles, AFVs and radars were dominant outside the Central Hall (significantly chosen for the official inauguration by Mr AK Antony just after his opening address at the Harshavardhan Theatre). Exactly opposite and across the road in Hall 10 were showcased DRDO’s current and futuristic programmes, with 49 establishments taking part. These ranged from UAVs of the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) to the Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR) whose mission is to design, develop and productionise high quality Secure Communication, Command and Control, and Intelligent Systems, through synergic interactions with academic institutions and industry.
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Organised by the Defence Exhibitions ... - Vayu Aerospace

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