India, UK to deepen military ties; IAF instructors to train RAF pilots for first time

New Delhi: India and the United Kingdom have agreed to further enhance military training engagements following the conclusion of the 19th UK-India Air Staff Talks held in New Delhi on Wednesday.

In a significant first, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will deploy three Qualified Flight Instructors (QFIs) to the Royal Air Force (RAF) Valley in the UK, the training base for British fast jet pilots. The move marks the first time Indian QFIs will impart fast jet training to British pilots at RAF Valley.

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According to the UK High Commission, the deployment will initially be for a period of two years.

The development follows the first-time deployment in January of an IAF officer as an instructor at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell, the air academy responsible for training the next generation of RAF officers.

With this, all three British military academies are now hosting Indian officers as instructors from the respective services.

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Rolls-Royce offers co-development of next-gen fighter jet engine

In a separate development, Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic on Thursday unveiled a strategic roadmap to scale up the company's Indian operations across defence, energy and civil aviation domains, including plans to co-develop an aero-engine for India's next-generation combat jets with full intellectual property transfer.

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Under the initiative, Rolls-Royce is looking at more than doubling the size of its workforce to approximately 10,000 people in India and a 10-fold increase in local supply chain sourcing with a long-term goal to position the country as a global hub for its high-tech manufacturing.

"As we grow our participation in programmes across India's defence, aviation and energy sectors, we will expand our ecosystem in India, as we have done successfully in other countries," Erginbilgic said.

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Among the major defence projects, Rolls-Royce has been eyeing to develop a next-generation aero engine in India as a priority to power the combat jets that New Delhi will produce under the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.

Rolls-Royce, with the UK government, has offered to co-develop a 120 kN class combat jet engine core that could be India's fastest route to an indigenous next-generation engine.

The co-development will provide full technology transfer with IP (intellectual property) ownership for India, supported by a dedicated design complex and manufacturing capabilities that will unlock significant job creation.

"We believe our unique portfolio of advanced capabilities can help us grow our presence and partnerships further, to power, protect and connect India for decades to come," Erginbilgic said.