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India takes first steps towards own regional aircraft
India takes first steps towards own regional aircraft
Praveen Bose / Bangalore October 4, 2010, 0:56 IST
Indias very own Regional Transport Aircraft, or RTA, is taking shape. This is notwithstanding the criticism heaped on the indigenous small passenger aircraft programmes like Saras and Hansa.
An RTA is said to be more suitable for a place like India where within a radius of 300-400 km of a big city you have another one.
The Rs 3,000-4,000 crore project was set-in motion a month earlier by the Defense Research and Development Organisation. National Aeronautics Limited is the nodal agency for the design of the aircraft. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is expected to produce it.
The project is expected to give a shot in the arm to the aviation sector in the country. RTA is more suitable to reach places within a 500-km radius. The aircraft would have a range of 600 km to 800 km. HAL and the NAL have not decided on many aspects of the aircraft such as work share, funding and even whether the aircraft will have a turbo-prop or turbo jet engine. NAL had held discussions with Pratt & Whitney (Canada) and General Electric (US) for an engine.
Quest Global, the outsourced manufacturing company, is now in the design team for RTA. It hopes to be involved in the manufacturing too.
It is the point-to-point connecting ability of RTAs that could make it popular today, and could hold sway in future too, said Aravind Melligeri, Chairman & Co-founder of Quest Global. The hub-and-spoke model is not favoured by many who do not want to get on or off aircrafts to reach their destination.
About 400 of these regional jets are expected to be manufactured. Of these, 200 will go to the armed forces.
The CSIR-funded project draws from the experience derived from developing the Saras and the Hansa. The two projects showed that NAL can design an aircraft, said Melligeri.
But, is there a market big enough for the aircraft to spend that much money? There is a market for it in India. The next phase of growth in the aviation industry would be tier-II and tier-III cities, said Amber Dubey, director, KPMG. The RTA would also cater to the needs of different sectors such as tourism, SEZs, ports, and cargo hubs. Such places may not have the critical mass to justify a B-737 or A-320. With a runway requirement of around 900m, the RTA can help revive many of the old unused airstrips in the country, added Dubey.
The pricing will have to be strategic. It is destined to face retaliatory action from the market leader ATR. It will need government support in the initial phase, added Dubey.
Collaborative development would be key. There is no point in reinventing the wheel on some of the critical elements like engines, avionics, composites among other things for which a reliable global supply chain exists, Dubey said. These can be indigenised over the longer term.
But, its the question of having the capability in India. The MROs and aerospace SEZ, for instance, could play a big role in helping India develop indigenous capabilities over time. NAL held a pre-bid conference for avionics for the regional transport aircraft for the RTA, the 70-seater aircraft.
From India, for supplying the avionics system, companies like TCS, Accord Software and Systems, HAL Edgewood, Axis Technology, participated to get more information on the future requirements.
The project has got the sanction for the first stage with a funding of about Rs 300 crore which has already been given by the government. This stage involves high-level design. Additional funding will be secured as the project makes progress, said sources from NAL.
It will be a combination of Indian and foreign avionics. Rockwell Collins and Diehl Aerospace, the German aerospace firm, are among companies vying to bag the project to supply some of the systems. Indian engineering helps reduce engineering costs.
The MROs in Nagpur and elsewhere and the aerospace park in Belgaum of Quest are helping build capacity. The sub-assemblies and sub-systems may be brought in as part of the offset programme.
India has been well behind other countries that are developing an RTA. Japan, in 10 years, has managed to develop the Mitsubishi RJ.
Russians and Chinese too are right in front in developing the aircraft. Sukhoi Superjet-100 of Russia and the ARJ21 regional jet is being developed in China, by the AVIC-I Commercial Aircraft Company (ACAC), based in Shanghai, which is a consortium of six companies and aerospace research institutes carrying out the development and manufacture of the aircraft. But, warn experts, unlike the LCA programme, it should stick to the timeline set.
Technologies required would include a laminar flow wing, hydrophobic coatings, use of low cost composites, fly-by-wire controls, advanced avionics that will enable the use of ill-equipped airfields, integrated vehicle health monitoring among others, said an NAL source.
In August 2008 former President A P J Abdul Kalam said India can produce small passenger jets by 2020. For this, India needs to make optimum use of its technology in the aerospace sector.
India takes first steps towards own regional aircraft
Praveen Bose / Bangalore October 4, 2010, 0:56 IST
Indias very own Regional Transport Aircraft, or RTA, is taking shape. This is notwithstanding the criticism heaped on the indigenous small passenger aircraft programmes like Saras and Hansa.
An RTA is said to be more suitable for a place like India where within a radius of 300-400 km of a big city you have another one.
The Rs 3,000-4,000 crore project was set-in motion a month earlier by the Defense Research and Development Organisation. National Aeronautics Limited is the nodal agency for the design of the aircraft. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is expected to produce it.
The project is expected to give a shot in the arm to the aviation sector in the country. RTA is more suitable to reach places within a 500-km radius. The aircraft would have a range of 600 km to 800 km. HAL and the NAL have not decided on many aspects of the aircraft such as work share, funding and even whether the aircraft will have a turbo-prop or turbo jet engine. NAL had held discussions with Pratt & Whitney (Canada) and General Electric (US) for an engine.
Quest Global, the outsourced manufacturing company, is now in the design team for RTA. It hopes to be involved in the manufacturing too.
It is the point-to-point connecting ability of RTAs that could make it popular today, and could hold sway in future too, said Aravind Melligeri, Chairman & Co-founder of Quest Global. The hub-and-spoke model is not favoured by many who do not want to get on or off aircrafts to reach their destination.
About 400 of these regional jets are expected to be manufactured. Of these, 200 will go to the armed forces.
The CSIR-funded project draws from the experience derived from developing the Saras and the Hansa. The two projects showed that NAL can design an aircraft, said Melligeri.
But, is there a market big enough for the aircraft to spend that much money? There is a market for it in India. The next phase of growth in the aviation industry would be tier-II and tier-III cities, said Amber Dubey, director, KPMG. The RTA would also cater to the needs of different sectors such as tourism, SEZs, ports, and cargo hubs. Such places may not have the critical mass to justify a B-737 or A-320. With a runway requirement of around 900m, the RTA can help revive many of the old unused airstrips in the country, added Dubey.
The pricing will have to be strategic. It is destined to face retaliatory action from the market leader ATR. It will need government support in the initial phase, added Dubey.
Collaborative development would be key. There is no point in reinventing the wheel on some of the critical elements like engines, avionics, composites among other things for which a reliable global supply chain exists, Dubey said. These can be indigenised over the longer term.
But, its the question of having the capability in India. The MROs and aerospace SEZ, for instance, could play a big role in helping India develop indigenous capabilities over time. NAL held a pre-bid conference for avionics for the regional transport aircraft for the RTA, the 70-seater aircraft.
From India, for supplying the avionics system, companies like TCS, Accord Software and Systems, HAL Edgewood, Axis Technology, participated to get more information on the future requirements.
The project has got the sanction for the first stage with a funding of about Rs 300 crore which has already been given by the government. This stage involves high-level design. Additional funding will be secured as the project makes progress, said sources from NAL.
It will be a combination of Indian and foreign avionics. Rockwell Collins and Diehl Aerospace, the German aerospace firm, are among companies vying to bag the project to supply some of the systems. Indian engineering helps reduce engineering costs.
The MROs in Nagpur and elsewhere and the aerospace park in Belgaum of Quest are helping build capacity. The sub-assemblies and sub-systems may be brought in as part of the offset programme.
India has been well behind other countries that are developing an RTA. Japan, in 10 years, has managed to develop the Mitsubishi RJ.
Russians and Chinese too are right in front in developing the aircraft. Sukhoi Superjet-100 of Russia and the ARJ21 regional jet is being developed in China, by the AVIC-I Commercial Aircraft Company (ACAC), based in Shanghai, which is a consortium of six companies and aerospace research institutes carrying out the development and manufacture of the aircraft. But, warn experts, unlike the LCA programme, it should stick to the timeline set.
Technologies required would include a laminar flow wing, hydrophobic coatings, use of low cost composites, fly-by-wire controls, advanced avionics that will enable the use of ill-equipped airfields, integrated vehicle health monitoring among others, said an NAL source.
In August 2008 former President A P J Abdul Kalam said India can produce small passenger jets by 2020. For this, India needs to make optimum use of its technology in the aerospace sector.
