India to showcase military prowess at Chennai event

India will showcase its prowess in defence manufacturing at the upcoming DefExpo-2018 in Chennai from April 11 to 14, the Indian embassy in Doha announced in a statement yesterday.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Def Expo on April 12. Around 50 official delegations from various countries are likely to participate, including 13 at Ministerial level. More than 600 exhibitors, including 517 Indian exhibitors, have confirmed their participation.DefExpo 2018 will brand India as a defence exporter of several defence systems and components for all three services - army, navy and air force. While showcasing strengths of India’s substantial public sector, it will also uncover India’s growing private industry and spreading MSME base for components and sub-systems. DefExpo 2018 will showcase Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s various flying platforms including domestically designed and manufactured fourth-generation Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) - Tejas; Advanced Light Helicopter - Dhruv which have both civil as well as combat variants; Light Combat Helicopter, and Dornier civilian aircraft. Apart from HAL’s platforms, the event will also promote domestic private industry and aero-components industry. As the DefExpo is being held on a seashore location, it provides an opportunity to the Indian Navy to demonstrate its domestic design and manufacturing capabilities. India will present its naval designing capabilities in shipbuilding, being one of the few countries in the world with capabilities to design a naval vessel from scratch to finish. India will also physically showcase, along the shoreline several frigates, corvettes and other ships. The exhibition will also unveil India’s capabilities in manufacturing the Scorpene class submarine. Naval shipyards in the public sector including Mazagon Docks, GRSE, Goa Shipyards, Hindustan Shipyard and private shipyards will bring to the view of visitors their capabilities in manufacturing and servicing ships. As regards land systems, India will unveil its 155mm Advanced Towed Artillery Gun (ATAG) at the event. This is the first time that India has its own ATAG which has been designed and developed by DRDO in partnership with Kalyani Group, Tata Power and OFBs. India also proposes to showcase its tank making capabilities, including MBT Arjun, T90 and T-72, Bridge Laying Tanks (BLTs) with a span of over 70ft among others. India will also be showcasing the 155mm artillery gun ‘Dhanush’.