Indian Aerospace Industry Seeing Unprecedented Growth Towards Becoming Self-Reliant: IAF Chief

Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari, Chief of the Air Staff, called on the Aircraft and System Testing Establishment (ASTE) on Friday to expand its outreach in order to capitalise on the unprecedented expansion in the Indian aerospace ecosystem.

The Indian Air Force chief also emphasised the importance of incorporating new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics into flying training and testing methodologies.

“ASTE has been a critical link in the design, development, testing, evaluation, operationalization and training of war-fighting equipment and soldiers. The time has come to expand your outreach to seamlessly connect with the industry, certified (flight testing) community, and end users to make it a multi-stakeholder approach,” he said.

The Air Chief Marshal was addressing at the start of a two-day seminar titled 'Lessons from the Past: Opportunities for the Future,' which was organised to commemorate ASTE's golden jubilee.

He also said that the ASTE is unusual in that it collaborates with the Indian defence sector and participates in design and development activities by supporting defence labs' research and development efforts.

He urged ASTE and the Air Force Test Pilot School (AFTPS) to use the potential presented by the country's expanding aerospace industry.

He further said, “The Indian aerospace ecosystem is experiencing extraordinary expansion as it strives to become self-sufficient. The increased emphasis on local manufacture and the enhancement of public-private partnerships has created a huge chance for our flight testing community to collaborate proactively and effectively in meeting national objectives.”

“Institutions around the world invest extensively in human resource training, support infrastructure development and the creation of safe and conducive environments for efficient flight test operations. As a result, transactional connections and peer contacts are extremely important in this context,” he added. 

During the two-day session, he told the participants to gain the most knowledge possible.

“To maximise safety, we must learn the proper lessons from the past, grasp modern issues and establish our testing philosophy and approach,” he said.

He further said, to optimise the effort while reducing programme costs and deadlines. Using modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, simulators and big data analytics to reduce our flying effort would help us improve our training and testing techniques significantly.

He commended ASTE, calling it a “saga of professional excellence” with a single goal of self-reliance in the field of flight testing and said that ASTE has been at the forefront of the Indian Air Force's modernisation and operationalization over the years.

He went on to say that the ASTE-sponsored pilot training school was critical in finding and training the right human capital for complicated jobs in the demanding sector of flight testing.

“The Air Force Pilot Training School has emerged as a centre of excellence for imparting high-quality training and generating a world-class test group capable of meeting all flight testing problems,” he added.