Rockwell Collins Growing Presence in India

As the tenth largest economy in world and with GDP forecasted to grow at 8 per cent annually, India is a critical growth market for Rockwell Collins. Increasing air traffic and ongoing regional security threats are driving spending on programmes in both commercial and government sectors.

Rockwell Collins Offerings for India: Rockwell Collins sees significant business opportunities for communications upgrades, network-centric warfare, soldier modernisation, air transport, business aviation and security and defence markets in India. The company's strength in network-enabled communications, advanced, integrated avionics and communication systems for military fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, precision navigation and nose to tail systems for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) aligns well with India's needs.

Rockwell Collins provides proven radios for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft that are commonplace on aircraft worldwide, including:

• The Rockwell Collins HF-9000D light-weight airborne HF radio is a highly versatile, all solid-state, digital, high frequency radio communication system intended for both fixed- and rotary-wing airborne applications. Advanced features include digital signal processing technology to provide new embedded features in an exceptionally light-weight, compact system.
• The Rockwell Collins ARC-210 /TALON programmable digital communications systems provide superior V/UHF performance and interoperability between ground and airborne military forces and land-based civil agencies. The 629F-23 is the first ARC-210 with software loads tailored to customer requirements, including the TALON waveform. The next-generation TALON 2 Software Defined Radio (SDR) will feature an expanded frequency range and air-to-ground Mobile Ad Hoc Networking (MANET), via the tailorable FlexNet-Waveform.

For fixed site applications, the 721S transceiver offers the latest in V/UHF capabilities with the flexibility of Ethernet and Voice over IP (VoIP) ground-air-ground communications; the URG III family offers superior HF communications enhanced by Wideband Data Transfer. In addition, the 721S or URG III can be coupled with Rockwell Collins SubNet Relay and High Speed Modem products to create ad hoc, dynamically reconfigurable data networks with data rates up to 1.92 Mbps.

For ground mobile applications, the FlexNet™ family of software defined radios - developed in collaboration with Thales - enables interoperability for joint coalition forces. FlexNet radios include the FlexNet-One compact high-capacity, single-channel radio and the FlexNet-Four versatile multi-channel radio. Both radios are capable of supporting the FlexNet - Waveform for high data-rate ad hoc networked communications as well as other India unique waveforms.

Customers: Examples of Rockwell Collins customers doing business in India include the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's transport aircraft, communication equipment through ECIL, original equipment manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus, and numerous commercial airlines. In addition, Rockwell Collins has multiple ARC-210 and Talon radio systems on many transport and helicopter platforms.

Hyderabad Engineering Design Centre: In 2008, Rockwell Collins opened a design centre in Hyderabad to augment the company's existing engineering capabilities. The India Design Centre (IDC) was created to help Rockwell Collins expand its global footprint, meet the needs of customers in this region, and increase access to high-quality engineering and design talent. This centre also enables Rockwell Collins' engineering teams to work collaboratively around the world and round the clock to develop innovative solutions.

Rockwell Collins' IDC is dedicated to product development for global markets with initial work focused on the design of display applications for commercial and military customers and flight management systems. The IDC currently has 500 employees with plans to grow to 600 by the end of 2013.

New Delhi: Rockwell Collins opened a new facility in Gurgaon, Haryana, near New Delhi in 2011. This facility houses the business development, programme management, systems engineering and related support activities for net-enabled communications, navigation, surveillance, displays, sensors, simulation and training and integrated systems and sub-systems for airborne, ground and maritime applications.

Leadership: Thud Chee "TC" Chan is Vice President and Managing Director of the Asia-Pacific region. Chan has more than 18 years of aerospace industry experience, most recently as Vice President and General Manager, Customer Service – Asia-Pacific for Goodrich Aerospace. He works out of the Rockwell Collins Singapore office location.

Ram Prasad is Managing Director of Rockwell Collins' India operations. Prasad has over 20 years of experience in aerospace and defence engineering and management, with management positions at Honeywell and the Aeronautical Development Agency, and as squadron leader in the Indian Air Force.