India access to Southeast Asian markets
UK-based Cobham plans to introduce high end technology under the Make in India initiative for export-oriented long-term partnerships with Indian businesses.
Stating this, Cobham Executive Vice President for Business Development, Air Marshal Greg Bagwell, has underlined the importance of India as a market as well as a springboard for exports to South East Asian markets.
“Importantly, India has access to the Southeast Asian markets,” the Air Marshal told fiinews.com at the Aero India 2019 on 21 Feb 2019 in Bengaluru.
“There are opportunities to genuinely bring something into India that actually moves the Indian technologies and capabilities another step under the ‘Make in India’ initiative,” he said.
The Air Marshal is confident that Cobham backed cutting-edge technologies for products made in India will strongly compete in the South East Asian markets against alternate options from China, Russia and the United States.
Bagwell noted a wide range of plans among Western companies to transfer off the shelf technologies under the ‘Make in India’ concept, but he was quick to add that Cobham is keen to ensure that its Indian partnerships lead in Asian markets with cutting edge technologies.
“It has to be high-end value-added products to compete with international suppliers in the fast-developing Asian economies seeking the best systems in the world for both the civilian and military use,” stressed Air Marshal Bagwell.
Cobham, he said, had a long-standing relationship with India which was built on trust.
“India is a strong ally for the UK and is an important market because of the strong mutual trust we have in each other’s capabilities. This trust-bond allows you to do things in India that you might not be as ready to produce in other countries,” said the Air Marshal.
He expressed full confidence in the capabilities of Indian engineers, especially in the high-end product manufacturing and marketing.
Cobham is a leading global technology and services innovator, supplying civilian and military products globally. “Cobham produces an extremely wide range of high technology products that are ever present in all domains, including space, and can be found on the widest selection of platforms, including the recently declared LCA aircraft”, he pointed out.
Soon to be introduced is it’s Anti-Jam protection for GPS technology to India. “We are very keen to push our pedigree both in commerce and defence space,” he asserted.
“Given the increasing importance and reliance on GPS systems, it is increasingly essential to protect and preserve the signals to platforms. We have the technology to do this,” he added.
The Air Marshal also gave an understanding that cutting-edge technology transfer is a process which deals with commercial and intellectual property sensitivities, requiring long-lead times and detailed discussions.
Discussions and negotiations are underway for a series of new contracts and renewals as well as looking at the ongoing projects from support and maintenance aspects.
Among renewals, Cobham is preparing to provide a maintenance deal for the Su30 Buddy-Buddy Refuelling Pod.
Cobham’s probe and drogue refueling systems are on every Boeing and Airbus tanker programme around the World.
Among heavyweight projects, Cobham is putting the over-wing missile launchers on to India’s Jaguar which will be completed this year.
As a diverse business, Cobham has electronics and avionics capabilities both for defence and commercial applications. It is respected for providing solutions to the most challenging problems, from deep space to the depths of the ocean.
Cobham serves space, aerospace, land and maritime sectors. fiinews.com
