Initially, DefExpo’s exhibit will include India’s Futuristic 5 Simulatoresecond generation advanced combat aircraft (AMCA)
By Vikas Gupta
Defence News of India, 18 October 22
Gandhinagar’s Helipad Exhibition Center is abuzz with the controlled chaos that characterizes air show and defense venues on the eve of their inauguration. India’s premier defense exhibition, Defense Exposition 2022 (called DefExpo 22), begins on Tuesday, but exhibitors are still touching up their displays, small groups of police are searching for their pickets and security personnel are erecting their metal detectors and guns. X-ray machines.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to inaugurate DefExpo 22 on Thursday.
Defexpo 22 was due to be held in February this year but, with foreign exhibitors reluctant to come to India in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Defense postponed it indefinitely. It is now held from October 18 to 22, with the event being the first ever DefExpo held exclusively for Indian companies.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) stressed that “companies, Indian subsidiaries of foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), divisions of companies registered in India and exhibitors having joint ventures with Indian companies will be considered to be Indian participants”.
Held in the largest ever area of over one lakh square meters (the previous edition was 76,000 square meters) and with a record 1,340 company registration, DefExpo 2022 is set to be the largest defense exhibition in this day, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.
The Minister of Defense said that seventy-five countries will participate in DefExpo 2022. The Minister will host the second India-Africa Defense Dialogue (IADD) on October 18, while the Indian Ocean region conclave plus ( IOR+) will take place on October 19. More than 53 African countries have been invited for the IADD and 44 for the IOR+ conclave.
For years, successive defense exhibitions have been organized by the MoD’s Defense Exhibitions Organization (DEO) alternately in New Delhi, interspersed with Aero India shows in Bengaluru in the odd years in between.
This tradition was broken by the first National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, when Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hosted DefExpo 2018 in Chennai and Rajnath Singh, who hosted DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow. Today, Rajnath is holding its second DefExpo in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
DefExpo 22 intends to highlight the close ties between the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on the one hand; and industry and academia on the other. The MoD has announced that the DRDO will showcase a wide range of 430 products encompassing strategic and tactical weapon systems, defense equipment and technologies.
” The 12e The edition of Asia’s largest defense event will highlight the theme ‘Path to Pride’, aligned with ‘India at 75’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-governing India), encouraging industry as well as citizens to join and contribute towards nation building. It aims to advance the narrative of ‘Make in India, Make for the World’,” the MoD said in a press release.
Several DRDO initiatives will also be showcased, such as the Technology Development Fund (TDF), Dare to Dream and other similar programs to support universities, start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises and large industries.
DefExpo 22 will feature static exhibits, live demonstrations, seminars and immersive experience zones. These will be spread over three separate sites: including the Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Center, the Heliport Exhibition Center and the Sabarmati Riverfront.
Initially, the exhibition will include India’s Futurist 5 SimulatoreFirst generation Advanced Combat Aircraft (AMCA), as well as other naval, land and air product simulators in augmented and virtual reality.
There will also be a sprawling 1200 square meter outdoor exhibition, with 18 static displays. These will include Border Surveillance System (BOSS), Laser Fence System (LFS), air-launched BrahMos Cruise Missile, Composite Hull Infantry Fighting Vehicle (CICV), Advanced 155 mm x 52 caliber towed artillery gun (ATAGS), the Prahar missile, the rapid reaction surface-to-air missile (QRSAM) and the medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM).
During the exhibition, there will be a series of major seminars and discussions. Among these, one event – bandhan – in which the DRDO will hand over the licenses of the technologies it has developed to Indian industries for manufacturing.
