India’s Hawking Defence Services has signed a procurement cum partnership agreement with Australia’s Amphibian Aerospace Industries.
Hawking is a Chennai-based (Tamil Nadu) Def-Tech Company operating in the field of Defence and Aerospace, while Amphibian is a Darwin-based (Northern Territory) manufacturer of 28-seater “Albatross” amphibious aircraft.
Amphibian’s “Albatross” is a 28-seater Amphibious Aircraft capable of landing and taking off from land, water, and snow.
Mr Khoa Trong, the Chairman of Amphibian Aerospace Industries, said in a statement:
“This aircraft will be a game changer for India as similar to Australia, India has a vast coastal belt. Our amphibious aircraft can be used in any kind of terrain and weather and will add great value to India’s Civilian and Defence sectors.”
The current agreement between Hawking and Amphibian includes the confirmation of procurement of a single aircraft. It also aims to set up water-aerodromes for the aircraft to operate from which will cost AUD60,000.
Mr Vijayanarayanan Rapalli, the Chairman of Hawking Defence, added:
“This is just the beginning of our relationship. We have plans to establish a unit in Tamil Nadu to manufacture aircraft components and MRO services for the Amphibious Aircraft.”
In the next five years, Hawking is looking to invest INR 1,000 crores with an expectation to create around 850 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs in India and Australia.
Mr Rajeev Koundinya, the CEO of Hawking Defence, observed that Tamil Nadu has many advantages to offer such as its unique coastal line and highly skilled manpower.
“Besides approximately 38,000 industries, Tamil Nadu also offers a full ecosystem including highly skilled manpower readily available which has led us to choose Tamil Nadu as our base.”
The MoU signing that took place today between both companies was in the presence of Mr David Eggleston, Deputy Consul General, Australia; Mr Adil Mohamed, Project Director- Australia India Business Exchange; Mr Abdul Ekram, Trade and Investment Commissioner, South-East Asia; Mr Tim Owen, Chair, Hunter Defence Net, Australia; Capt. Amber Singh Uban, Director, Hawking Defence; Wing Cdr. P Madhusoodhanan, Vice President, Aerospace & Defence, TIDCO; and Mr B Krishnamoorthy, IOFS, Additional Secretary, Project Director, TIDCO.
