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The Indian Air Force’s Bhatinda air base in Punjab will be the first to be modernised under a contract that was awarded to Tata Power’s Strategic Electronic Division.
The air base, among the 30 that were given to Tata Power SED in a $240 million contract in April 2011, will have improved facilities by the first quarter of 2012, officials of the Boston-headquartered Raytheon, a Defence and security systems supplier, told a team of visiting Indian journalists. The journalists are on a visit to some of Raytheon’s facilities in the US at the invitation of the company.
Under the IAF’s programme, called Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure (MAFI), 30 air fields across the country will have the latest air traffic management systems, improved runways and runway lighting. Tata Power SED bagged the contract in a global bid. Tata Power subsequently signed an agreement with Raytheon, under which the latter would supply air traffic control systems. Raytheon’s contract value is estimated at $23 million.
Raytheon has also installed its latest air traffic management system – AutoTrac III – at the Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai civil airports.
The first phase of the air field modernisation programme is scheduled to be completed within three years. The IAF is also likely to invite Tata Power to take up another 28 air fields for improvement in the second phase.
A team of engineers from Tata Power SED is being trained at Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems at Marlborough, near Boston in Massachusetts.
According to Mr Saranjit S. Aujla, Business Development Director, Air Traffic Management and Security Solutions, Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems, the air traffic control system that it is providing for the IAF’s stations will be similar to AutoTrac III. It will be possible to integrate the civil and military air space with the technology capable of handling security related issues.
Raytheon hopes to sell some of its other security products such as Perimeter Intrusion Detection System and ClearView, for which it is talks with various agencies.
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