High-Fleets for Indian Aerospace & Defense Market
India Aerospace & Defense Market is expected to grow at a significant pace owing to the growing need for the modernization of Indian armed forces. The modernization drive aims to leverage advanced military technology to improve operational capabilities. Need for improvement in areas such as battlefield support systems, situational awareness, non-lethal weapons, and artificial intelligence is expected to drive the India aerospace & defence market over the next seven years.
India has emerged as the most attractive destination for defence and aerospace technologies in the world. The country already has a large ecosystem—comprising defence, aerospace, avionics, hardware, technologies, equipment, services, products and tools–built by government bodies and private players. Interestingly, the country has over 3,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that are exclusively focused on defence and aerospace-related areas.
India’s aerospace and defence market is expected to reach $23 billion by 2024, as per a forecast by Global Market Insights, Inc. The market comprises of cybersecurity, homeland security, border security, MRO (maintenance, repair and operations), modelling, training and simulation, logistics, tanks, armoured fighting vehicles, artillery, mine warfare, communication equipment and technology, aircraft, helicopters, missiles, amphibious warfare, submarines, destroyers, frigates, corvettes etc.
There is increased demand for lightweight materials in order to reduce the weight and increase the fuel efficiency of an aircraft. Several Indian startups are working in this space.
The global aerospace and defence materials market size is estimated to reach $27.44 billion by 2025, indicating a CAGR of 4.3 per cent, says Grand View Research Inc.
Edition after edition, the biannual defence exposition Aero India has been attracting hundreds of visitors and millions of dollars of investments from all around the world especially from US, UK, Germany, Israel, Russia and many European countries. Multi-million dollar business contracts and trade interactions are expected to emerge out of this edition of Aero India as well, as per industry observers.
Cybersecurity the New Aerospace & Defense Destination
Changing geopolitical situations on the country’s borders is necessitating continuous improvement in defense equipment. This is propelling new procurement to replace obsolete equipment to bring in readiness. Growing demand is attracting many local industry participants such as Larsen & Toubro, Tata, and Mahindra, in addition to global players including Boeing, BAE Systems, and Israel Aerospace Industries. The entry of newer players in the industry is anticipated to increase competition and drive innovation, thus driving the India aerospace & defense market over the next seven years.
Air segment of the India aerospace & defense market is expected to witness significant growth. The Air Force is planning to increase its surveillance capabilities by acquiring airborne warning & control systems. The sector is anticipated to strengthen its transport fleet to improve its strategic and tactical lift capabilities. The force is also planning to acquire newer fighter platforms such as fifth-generation aircrafts and MMRCA.
Homeland security segment is expected to increase at a significant rate, due to growing social unrest in the country, thus propelling the India aerospace & defense market growth. The government intends to leverage the capacities of private engineering & design and IT sector in the country to meet homeland security demands. The government is undertaking several projects that include counter-terrorism, border infiltration, maritime security, critical infrastructure security, intelligence, police modernization, and safe city surveillance.
Growing proliferation of visual devices to train aircrew and maintenance staff is expected to propel the modelling, training, and simulation (MTS) services growth. Regional technology players such as Tata Technologies are partnering with India aerospace & defense market players to deliver optimized solutions across modelling and simulation services.
Aerospace & defense equipment is extensively used by the Indian military, navy, and the air force. Thus, the large -scale production of aircrafts, communication equipment, helicopters, and missiles in the country have contributed significantly toward augmenting India aerospace & defense market revenue. In addition, the escalating need for increasing the aircraft fleet size with the inclusion of supporting aircrafts such as rescue, emergency & repair, and medic aircrafts have been forecast to impel the business landscape.
Partnership is the Key To Success
Noting that the Indian government’s strong emphasis on building manufacturing sector, some producers of high-tech and high-spec products said they were working on being in the Indian market for the long-term. “With the ‘Make in India’ initiative, we have been very focused on looking for ways to collaborate further with the Indian industry,” said Jim Jackalone, Director of Sales and Marketing at Cobham Aerospace Communications, a UK-based global technology and services innovator.
Underlining the working relationship with Indian aviation heavyweights such as Tata Industries and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for over 70 years, he said, almost all aviation platforms uses some Cobham equipment.
According to officials of the aviation and aerospace industries participating in the ongoing Singapore Airshow 2018, there is a growing respect for the Indian market as new innovations and products with advanced technologies are being designed with provision for India’s requirements. “India is going through a big modernisation programme and we are proposing our new communications solutions,” said David Knight, Global Sales Manager Air Defence at Frequentis UK Ltd, sharing his views of the Indian market.
Frequentis UK Ltd is a global supplier of communication and information solutions. London-based QinetiQ, which offers support of testing and evaluation services, expressed their willingness to address the generally perceived lack of product certification, qualification and standardisation of products made in India. “We would like to support with testing and evaluation services,” said Sophie Lane, head of strategic engagement at QinetiQ, which qualifies product and services required by the UK Armed Forces.
Some of the established vendors to international manufacturers expressed their keenness to relocate plants to India where global supply chain is in the making for multi- billion dollar domestic and export-oriented industries.
The UK-based Vaayu is seeking “a right Indian partner” as it is in the process of setting up representative office in India by end of this year. “India is a big market,” said Brue Allison, Sales Director at Vaayu, the supplier and stockist of re-cycled but upgraded material and parts for maintenance, repair and operation of major aircraft companies including Lufthansa and Lockheed Martin.
The Semiconductor of Things
The Global semiconductor market in military and aerospace industry to grow at a CAGR of 7.53% during the period 2018-2022. Global Semiconductor Market in Military and Aerospace Industry 2018-2022, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of products such as memory, logic, MOS microcomponents, analog, and others. According to the report, the increasing upgrading and modernization of aircraft will drive the market growth. Globally, aircrafts are being modernized with the incorporation of advanced electronics and systems in the machines to equip pilots for safe flying. Modern electronics are more accurate and weigh less, that aids in reducing the fuel usage and emissions. The growing use of UAVs will be a key trend driving the market growth. A UAV or drone, are aircrafts that are remotely controlled by drone pilots. In addition to military sector, these drones are finding their applications in sectors such as logistics. These UAVs are used to deliver aid packages to disaster-affected areas.
Lot to Test from T&M Segment – India to Lead
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) or Industry 4.0 and changing customer requirements will lead to the adoption of new business models by test and measurement vendors. A&D companies are ready to support the latest technological developments with substantial investments in R&D as new technology adoption and migration is the order of the day.
In the Asia-Pacific region, tremendous growth opportunities are forecast in the near future, especially in China and India, along with increased defense spending in Japan and South Korea. A similar trend is observed in Europe, especially among the European member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia. As the A&D industry (both military and commercial) is again experiencing growth, the global electronic test equipment market for A&D is expected to record increasing annual revenue growth from 2017 to 2022. Frost & Sullivan foresees sustained single-digit growth, resulting in a 3.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2017 to 2024.
Radar and electronic warfare (EW) applications hold the highest market share of 54.4%, followed by military communications (public safety and private mobile radio); and satellite and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) signals intelligence (SIGINT) applications. Antenna technology has become and continues to remain a dominant segment, with advanced radar systems witnessing greater penetration than in the past. Testing such systems not only requires wider bandwidths, but also high resolution along with lower phase noise, lower pre-dynamic range, and higher signal fidelity. Aerospace electronics and avionics continue to advance at a rapid pace, with few signs of slowing down. The demand for advanced test solutions is driven by compute-intensive, high-speed, and high-bandwidth avionics and electronics.
With the increased complexity of aerospace and defense systems, customers face challenges in the testing, validation, and verification of these modern devices. This trend is changing the face of test and accelerating the need for flexible and scalable test solutions. Aerospace and defense companies are also placing greater emphasis on test. The demand for accurate and effective testing is felt throughout the end-to-end aerospace and defense supply chain today. This trend is due to the increased pace of technology change, system complexity, and changing standards and regulations.
