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Eyes on                                                                                                 [ REPORT ]








           the Prize










         COLLINS AEROSPACE’S MILITARY                variety of rotary wing platforms, is designed to address avionics
         AVIONICS DIVISION IS PURSUING               obsolescence and improve mission effectiveness across platforms
                                                     such as UH-60 and H-47 Chinook. Collins’ Flight2 programme
         POTENTIAL CONTRACTS IN THE                  for fixed-wing military cockpit upgrades has proven to be equally
         ASIA PACIFIC REGION                         popular; over 370 C-130s have been modified, or are on contract
                                                     to be modified, with the solution. “Our capabilities are such that
                                                     we can work on any platform,” said Hoare. “Apart from CAAS and
           Arun Sivasankaran                         Flight2 that are for specific products, we have other products that
                                                     we can retrofit in the aftermarket. We are equally focused on the
                                                     newbuild market as well’ we cover both ends of the spectrum in
        With air forces in the Asia Pacific either going   terms of our solutions. South Korea, India, Japan and Taiwan all
        through cockpit modernization programmes     have a strong OEM base and indigenous capabilities; that is why
        for platforms such as the UH-60 and C-130    the APAC is such a major market for us.”
        or having such programmes in the pipeline,
        Collins Aerospace’s military avionics division is
        watching developments in the region with more  Major Markets
        than cursory interest. “We are very focused on  As part of its strategy to expand its footprint in the region, Collins is
        the APAC market as it is key for our long-term  looking to meet localization requirements of different countries and
        growth,” Martin Hoare, the company's Director  look for partnerships with local businesses. One of them is India.
        of  International  Business  Development,  “We are working closely with the Indian government to  address
        Avionics, said. “We are very interested in India  their requirements,” said Hoare. “There are a number of key pro-
        as a growth market and have seen some suc-   grams particular in the fighter and helicopter maters that we are
        cess there with the various OEMS, particularly  working on at the moment with some of our products. We have a
        HAL. We see strategic interest in Japan for the  big presence in the country; our design center is in India. We are
        next fighter aircraft. We also have a number  currently looking at options that we have for the “Make in India”
        of opportunities in Taiwan, particularly for  programme.”
        upgrades on various  number of platforms
        and their indigenous fighter platform. We are  Another major market is South Korea. The company is pursuing
        pursuing cockpit modernization programmes  cockpit modernization programmes for South Korea’s UH-60 and
        for South Korea’s UH-60 and C-130 platforms  C-130 platforms and has plans to support the growth of the indig-
        as well.”                                    enous defence industry by collaborating with local companies
                                                     in parts manufacturing, said Daesung Kwon, Collins Aerospace
        The company’s Common Avionics Architecture  Business Development Manager for Military Avionics.
        System (CAAS), a solution that can fit into a  “Our solution, specifically on the UH-60 and the C-130, is fully


        ASIAN DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY                                                          January/February 2022 | 29
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