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Indian Navy issued a Request for information
(RFI) in early 2011 for the acquisition of nine
amphibious aircraft to cater for its requirements
of Coastal/ Inter Island ferry for Personnel and
Cargo, supply of critical spares to units at sea,rapid
response missions for Humanitarian Assistance
and Disaster Relief,Visual / Radar Surveillance
at long range, Long range Search and Rescue Mission
and Casualty Evacuation at sea. Canada’s
Bombardier, Japan’s ShinMaywa and Russia’s
Beriev were the notable aircraft manufacturer
who had responded to the RFI.
_Sujeet_Samadda.jpg) “We
believe that this aircraft is really the best
and second to none in its category. It is global
in the true sense of the word. The enormous capabilities
of this aircraft can play a major part in enhancing
India’s role in the region. We have offered
the same US-2 configuration to the Indian Navy,
with minor changes (mostly upgrades in avionics
section) as is being flown by the JMSDF”
informed Cmde (Retd) Sujeet Samaddar, Chief Executive
Officer, ShinMaywa Industries India Private Limited
in an exclusive interview with India Strategic.
“US-2 is the outcome of nearly sixty years
of work and combines surveillance and response
in one platform which no other aircraft can do”
added Samaddar.
The aircraft is designed for air-sea rescue
missions and is equipped with a glass cockpit
with integrated instrument panel. Amphibious aircraft
can combine the capabilities of rapid surveillance
and prompt response, whether for relief or arrest,
in a single platform. Such a capability is not
available on any other platform. The modern amphibious
aircraft is thus a veritable force multiplier
since they fulfill a multitude of missions in
a single platform. Capability analysis indicates
that the US -2 is a unique aircraft and the only
‘in service’ open sea capable amphibian
aircraft with state of art equipment, very rough
sea operations (Sea state 5 upto 3m wave height)
and riverine/lake landing capability, STOL features,
long endurance and extended radius of operations
with large payload capacity. With such unique
features, US-2 may be considered as an effective
platform to carry out ‘Benign’ missions
such as SAR, CASEVAC, Humanitarian Relief and
Disaster Management, and ‘Constabulary’
missions such as extended EEZ surveillance and
Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) missions of the
Indian Navy. The US-2 with its unmatched capability
is considered to be extremely useful for strengthening
the safety and security of SLOCs, long range Fleet
Support and Island/Off shore assets (both overseas
and coastal) support functions. These missions
when combined in a single multimodal platform
such as the US-2 can earn for India the precious
good will of nations of the Indian Ocean region
commensurate with it’s identity as a responsible
rising power.
The aircraft is presently operated only by the
JMSDF and is deployed across the remote islands
of Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zones to provide
surveillance and SAR. The aircraft can quickly
reach remote islands and sites of maritime accidents
during search and rescue (SAR) operations. Not
only is US -2 the first Japanese aircraft to be
offered to the Indian defence market but India
is also the first prospective external customer
of this aircraft. To date US -2 has been operated
by the JMSDF alone. The first US-2 aircraft was
delivered to Japan’s Ministry of Defence
(MoD) in February 2009 and the fifth in 2011.
The same year, Japan eased the decades-old ban
on arms exports, paving the way for Japanese firms
to take part in multinational military projects.
Significantly, in the Summit Meeting held in Tokyo
on May 29, 2013, the Prime Ministers of Japan
and India decided to establish a Joint Working
Group (JWG) to explore modality for the cooperation
on the US-2 amphibian aircraft.
With regard to offset obligations to be met
as part of contractual obligations, Samaddar noted
“The Indian aviation private sector doesn’t
have enough capability and experience at the present
moment in aircraft manufacturing. So we have to
really partner with Indian industry to build the
required capability, develop the right skill sets,
imbibe highest quality and work ethics and provide
mentoring to our IOP to become a world class company.
Especially, for an aircraft as complicated as
the US -2, it might take us a little while and
the process has to be gradual but we are fully
confident that if we have a chance we can help
to transform the Indian aircraft industry just
as Suzuki did to the automobile sector. We are
also looking at maintenance, repair and overhaul
for the aircraft in India, Foreign Direct Investment
and sourcing from a large number of SMEs and in
addition, we also have an extremely interesting
plan towards creating an impact towards genuine
capability building in the country in aeronautical
engineering. Discussions are on with certain institutions
regarding the same. Our plans are not ‘one
off sale’ but we are completely committed
to partner with India for a long term high-technology
relationship.” He reiterated that offsets
were not obligations but opportunities waiting
to be explored.
Japan watchers in India will agree that ShinMaywa
is really not a new entrant to India as it began
operations almost 20 years ago. It has supplied
more than 80 aerobridges to Indian airports and
established state-of-the-art pumps for waste water
treatment across the country. Hence it definitely
feels at ease in the most lucrative defence market
the world over and is waiting to get its share
of the pie.
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