Top

Singapore Air Show 2012

February 16, 2012 by · Comments Off on Singapore Air Show 2012 

Singapore Air Show 2012, Singapore hosted military brass from across Asia this week at the region’s biggest arms and aerospace bazaar, almost 70 years to the day since it fell to Japanese forces sweeping across Southeast Asia during World War Two.

Japan has since become allied with most other Asian nations. It is now China which is the behemoth others are eyeing with unease.

And bigger defence budgets, means sales of fighters, weapons and other tools of death and destruction are higher than ever before.

At the Singapore Airshow, salesmen in business suits escorted visitors in the sweltering heat to mock-ups of the world’s most advanced jet fighters, helicopters and transport aircraft parked on a tarmac. Nearby, inside a vast air-conditioned hangar, state-of-the-art radar and surveillance equipment were exhibited and deals for missile systems were being inked.

Interest is shifting away from ground weapons like tanks and guns, analysts said, to jet fighters, maritime patrol aircraft, radar and in some cases submarines.

Asia’s mostly littoral nations are less concerned now with old neighbourhood rivalries, focusing more on the need for force projection across seas, analysts said.

For many, a resurgent China is the main threat.

“Other than India-Pakistan and the Korean peninsula, the contested spaces in Asia are maritime spaces, particularly the South China Sea,” said Andrew Davies, a programme director at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Singapore Airshow 2012

February 15, 2012 by · Comments Off on Singapore Airshow 2012 

Singapore Airshow 2012, There will be many biennial favourites and firsts for visitors to check out at the third edition of Asia’s largest and one of the three most important aerospace and defence exhibitions in the world, Singapore Airshow 2012.

Held from February 14 to 19 at the Changi Exhibition Centre, the airshow will feature more than 900 exhibitors from 50 countries and 266 delegations from 80 countries.

Representatives from 60 of the top 100 aerospace companies will be present, with some 20 airline and industry association CEOs slated to come, organisers said.

Among the 22 national/group pavilions spread over 50,000sqm of covered exhibition space, there will be for the first time Japan and Ukraine Pavilions.

There will also be an integrated Land Defence and Unmanned Systems Pavilion, the first pavilion of its kind showcasing UAVs, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms and high-tech land-based defence products and technologies.

In addition, the Green Pavilion will make a return, with a focus on alternative fuels to reduce carbon emissions.

For business forums, in addition to past favourites focusing on China and India, there will also be the inaugural Southeast Asia Business Forum, which helps companies understand procurement opportunities and make inroads into key growth markets.

Visitors will also be able to check out over 65 of the latest military aircraft, passenger airliners and luxury business jets on display over 100,000sqm of outdoor exhibition space, such as star-display Boeing 787 Dreamliner making its first appearance in Singapore.

Bottom