Aero India, India’s Largest Defence Aerospace Expo, Begins Monday

Aero India, India’s biggest aerospace show, will have its 14th and biggest-ever edition on Monday, February 13, at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru. It will be opened by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This five-day event is one of the world’s biggest and most important aerospace shows.

Its main goal is to build new technology for the Indian aviation industry, show India’s progress in aerospace and defence, encourage partnerships between Indian and foreign companies, and make it easier to do business and share ideas.

The organisers say that the event, which happens every two years, will be much better in 2023 than it was in 2021. When the 2023 and 2021 events were compared, it was said that “the event exhibition area is 35,000 square metres, compared to 23,000 square metres in 2021; the flying display will include 67 aircraft, compared to 64; the static display will have 36 aircraft, compared to 19; 809 firms will participate, compared to 600; and 98 nations will take part, compared to 55 in the earlier edition.”

Some of the most important platforms and technologies would be shown at the “India Pavilion” of the event. These would include the “Tejas Mk1” Light Combat Aircraft, which was designed and built in India, as well as a number of drone and anti-drone technologies and space technologies that can be used in defence.

The Indian government had said before that a few friendly countries were interested in buying Tejas planes for their own military, so the made-in-India fighter would be a big part of what India wants to sell abroad. Aside from this, there would also be solutions in the high-tech fields of AI, quantum communications, robotics, and 5G.

The Indian Defense Ministry will host a meeting of defence ministers called “SPEED” (Shared Prosperity through Enhanced Engagements in Defense) on the second day of the five-day event.

The people in charge of “Aero India” have said that 73 business leaders, including 27 from other countries, will take part in the CEOs roundtable. Defense ministers from 32 different countries will also be there, as will the air chiefs of 29 friendly foreign countries.

At an event meant to give people more information about “Aero India,” the Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Defense Ministers’ Conclave would focus on both the joint development of defence platforms and hardware, as well as the export of Indian-made defence platforms and hardware.