Air force exploring collaboration with IT industry

Monday, 30 June 2003, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is looking at the information technology industry for cooperation and collaboration in areas like avionics, the air force chief said here Friday. Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, who is here to address a conference of senior commanders, has a scheduled visit to the campus of Indian IT major Infosys Technologies that he described as a "courtesy call". Krishnaswamy said his visit came in the wake of a trip to Infosys by a senior U.S. Air Force commander some time ago. "We are just exploring areas of cooperation. We are interested in software," Krishnaswamy told a news conference here. He quoted several examples of the IAF outsourcing its software needs to the Defence Research and Development Organisation that has created software for the frontline Su-30 jets. "The main computer, the brain of the aircraft, is Indian and it is made in Bangalore." The IAF's software development centre too is working on items needed for the Jaguar's weapons systems and navigation systems on fighter jets. The software developed for the indigenously designed Tejas light combat aircraft had already been sold to Airbus Industrie. "In the U.S. there are a lot of systems for space applications that are done in Bangalore. We are at a very exploratory stage. We are trying to find out if they can support us," Krishnaswamy said. "We believe we need to work harder on this issue. "This is all part of the indigenisation process. It is not only hard material that we are looking at but also software that will be secure. Avionics is the core of specialisation in software."
Source: IANS
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