Honeywell Aerospace: Defexpo 2016 preview

As the Indian military looks to maximise assets, Honeywell Aerospace is seeing great demand both for its technology on the country’s new aircraft platforms, as well as for retrofit modifications and upgrades for its existing military fleets. At this year’s Defexpo show, a major focus for Honeywell Aerospace will be on presenting technologies that can help safeguard assets, lower operational costs and increase mission success.

Based on five decades of engineering experience, Honeywell supports a vast range of military capabilities and extends to more than 300 platforms. The company works with defence customers in India to provide a breadth of products and services, including integrated avionics and communications systems; propulsion and mechanical systems; conditioned-based maintenance, as well as logistics and services.

Our range of technologies also extends to ground support. With a significant proportion of India’s borders located along mountainous terrain, the challenge of border security remains a critical one for the Indian military. The key challenge in protecting India’s borders lies within accurate location and position tracking. This is critical to ensure troops and equipment can be moved quickly and easily to combat new threats as they arise. It is this product breadth, combined with our understanding of how to conduct business in India that enables Honeywell to support Indian military objectives now and in the future.

At this year’s show, visitors to the Honeywell stand (Hall 3, Stand 3.2.1-A) can learn more about the following key technologies on show:

• Designed to provide troops with precision navigation in all conditions, Honeywell’s Tactical Advanced Land Inertial Navigator (TALIN) is built with Honeywell’s industry leading, high-accuracy ring laser-gyro and accelerometers for unparalleled performance. With over 15,000 TALIN systems deployed by land, air and sea on more than 60 military and commercial platforms worldwide, Honeywell’s inertial systems represent a proven, battle-tested solution. Honeywell’s TALIN directly addresses the increased pressure to do more with current resources, maximising mission success while reducing costs. In November 2014, Honeywell signed a landmark agreement with Tata Power SED allowing India to co-produce its first locally produced advanced navigational system, supporting the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign.
• The LHTEC CTS800 turboshaft is the next-generation of the CTS800 turboshaft family of engines. It was developed by the Light Helicopter Turbine Engine Company (LHTEC), a 50:50 partnership between Rolls-Royce and Honeywell. The highly reliable and maintainable CTS800 principal engine design was originally developed to power the US Army’s Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche helicopter. The CTS800 gives operators options by providing exceptionally low fuel burn in a small, lightweight, high power package.
• Keeping soldiers safe while on the battlefield is always top-of-mind. A range of our Performance Material and Technologies (PMT) solutions will also be on display at the Honeywell booth, including our ultra-strong and lightweight Spectra body armour, helmets and associated products designed to protect soldiers. All of these products reinforce the legacy Honeywell has built over the past 50 years, developing defence technologies across land, sea, air, and space for the world’s militaries that safeguard assets while helping militaries effectively manage cost in the process. Honeywell has the know-how and expertise not only in delivering upgrades and improvements across a wide spectrum of defense platforms in use today but also in partnering with local Indian companies and fostering local training and talent growth.

In addition to the technologies listed above, Honeywell will focus on systems such as our Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Designed to help pilots avoid mid-air collisions, TCAS provides flight crews with visual awareness of the location, altitude, and the direction of travel of an aircraft within a 40-mile radius, ensuring the increased situational awareness. With India’s skies becoming more congested each year, our TCAS technology will play an increasingly important role for military fleets operating in shared airspace.

Visitors can also learn more about Honeywell’s Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS). HUMS allows for on-condition preventative helicopter maintenance, reducing mission aborts by up to 30 per cent, and is designed for rotorcraft of all sizes. This is done by monitoring irregular vibrations and providing data that can be downloaded by the on-ground maintenance crew. As a result, safety in-flight is improved and maintenance can be done when necessary, rather than having to solely rely on scheduled maintenance cycles. HUMS has a critical role to play in enabling that passengers be transported safely while simultaneously aiding Indian operators to keep an eye on maintenance costs as both military and numerous government, emergency response and commercial operators fly extensive helicopter fleets in India.

From strategic defence relationships with HAL, Indian Air Force (IAF), and the Indian Government, to relationships with local schools, universities and engineering projects, Honeywell is dedicated to supporting India’s aerospace and defence industries.

Arijit Ghosh, President, Honeywell Aerospace, India