Cranfield at Aero India

Aero India 2017 in Bengaluru provides a forum for industry, government and academia to come together to address the needs of Indian defence and security, says Simon Harwood, Director of Defence and Security at #Cranfield University.

“As one of the world’s largest providers of postgraduate defence education, Cranfield University is proud to continue to be a part of that discussion at Aero India,” he told fii-news.com.

India faces a web of complex regional security issues and a recognised need to modernise its defence capabilities and increase preparedness, elaborated Harwood.

“Government programmes such as ‘Make in India’ are rightly aiming to put India, the fourth largest defence spender in the world, onto a self-sufficient footing in terms of creating more of its own defence technology.

“However, it is also acknowledged that more can be done in this area,” observed Harwood.

With these challenges ahead, defence education is, and must continue to be, a priority and to form a significant component of the 40 million higher education places that the Government wants to provide by 2020.

Modernising and increased preparedness is not just about having the latest hardware – it is about growing India’s defence and security leaders, scientists, engineers and technologists, Harwood pointed out.

“It is also about empowering the defence industry and continuing to create an environment where specialist expertise can thrive and develop, rather than be imported,” he explained.

The shift from importer to the stated Government goal of net exporter of defence technology will not happen overnight, it will require a sustained commitment from Government, business and academia, stressed Harwood.

Cranfield University has a long history of partnering with the Indian defence industry. “For over 70 years, we have educated Indian students both from Government and industry and we continue to welcome them both at our Cranfield campus and at the #UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, where 375 of our staff are embedded at the secure site,” he assured.

“This year, we once again welcomed officers from #Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), India’s largest aerospace company, as we have for the last 10 years, as part of our ‘High Flyers’ partnership with them.

“Our postgraduate programme aims to prepare HAL officers to meet the future challenges of the aerospace sector in India and create technology leaders who will help drive the company forward,” Harwood said.

Over 200 senior officers from HAL have now benefited from Cranfield’s specialist postgraduate education provision and are now generating their own future leaders.

“At Aero India, we look forward to growing our long-established relationship with the Indian Government, industry and academia with agreements due to be signed at #Aero India with the #Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; #Aadyah Aerospace Private Limited and the Government of Telangana among others,” Harwood told fii-news.com.

“It is through these new exciting partnerships, and our existing collaborations with distinguished organisations such as HAL, that we hope to play our part in empowering the defence and security industry to create the next generation of leaders, engineers, scientists and technologists in India,” said Harwood. fii-news.com