The Bandhan event to be held on the sidelines of Aero India will witness the signing of a substantial number of MoUs, including significant ones from Karnataka industries.
The CEOs of major private defence companies and the CMDs of the DPSUs will participate in the event. Bandhan event is aimed at forging and renewing partnerships between business entities for innovative collaboration and strategic transformation of the defence manufacturing sector in the country. It will provide an ideal platform for the DPSUs, private defence companies and foreign vendors to ink business pacts to enhance defence collaboration and cooperation. It will also strengthen the domestic defence ecosystem and give a major boost to defence manufacturing and exports.
Bandhan will also see signing of agreements by the DRDO, major announcements, and product launches by the private and the public sector.
“These B2B engagements have immense business potential and will go a long way in scaling up the global engagement of Indian defence companies. These MoUs and ToTs will also pave the way for more FDI in defence for enhanced defence manufacturing, including manufacturing in the defence industrial corridors,” said the Ministry of Defence.
DRDO to showcase 330 products
The DRDO Pavilion at the airshow will showcase over 330 products.
There would be flight displays of LCA Tejas, LCA Tejas PV6, NETRA AEW&C and TAPAS UAV. The static display also includes LCA Tejas NP1/NP5 and NETRA AEW&C. The participation will also be marked by the flying debut of indigenous medium altitude long endurance class UAV TAPAS-BH (Tactical Aerial Platform for Advanced Surveillance - Beyond Horizon).
DRDO said TAPAS-BH would showcase its capabilities and cover the static as well as aerial displays on the business days and the aerial video shall be live-streamed throughout the venue. TAPAS is DRDO’s solution to the tri-services ISTAR requirements. The UAV is capable of operating at altitudes up to 28,000 feet, with an endurance of 18-plus hours and it is dubbed as the Indian version of the of U.S.’s Predator drones.
