India produced avionic systems for Indian Air Force's SU-30MKI aircraft

Indian Joint Venture to Produce Aircraft Displays July 09, 2008: NEW DELHI - Indian joint venture Samtel HAL Display Systems (SDS) has won a contract worth $50 million to manufacture multifunctional displays for the Indian Air Force's Su-30MKI aircraft. Based here, SDS is a joint venture between private firm Samtel and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., which is building the fighter jets under license. The displays, jointly developed with the Defence Avionics Research Establishment - a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organization - and manufactured by Samtel, has recently received clearance for flight-testing from the Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness. With this clearance, Samtel becomes the first Indian company to indigenously produce multifunctional displays for the Indian military, an SDS release said. A senior SDS executive said that in the second phase, the company will manufacture displays for HAL's Light Combat Aircraft and the Intermediate Jet Trainer. The SDS joint venture was formed in 2006 as the first public-private partnership in this sector for developing and manufacturing avionics display systems. With the July 8 order, the joint venture will become the first Indian company to produce these displays in India. The display is a device that puts all aircraft systems-monitoring and flight-planning functions at the pilot's fingertips, displaying a composite view of the aircraft's environment. Samtel holds 60 percent of the stake in the joint venture, with the balance being held by HAL.