Raytheon keen on $1 billion Indian civilian business by 2018
21 Oct 2008
Hyderabad: American defence contractor and industrial corporation Raytheon is optimistic about securing business worth $1 billion from the Indian civilian sector alone over the next 5-10 years.
The $21.3 billion company is reported to be at the head of the race for a $196 million contract for the supply of technology to be used in India's first satellite-based global aviation navigation system, GAGAN.
Raytheon's director of business development and strategic planning Fred A. Treyz III, while visiting India's civil aviation show at Hyderabad last week said that India has ''tremendous business potential'' for his company, and that although Raytheon was looking at around $100-200 million in business over the coming two to three years, ''this figure can easily go up to $1 billion in the next 5-10 years."
Raytheon has in its arsenal satellite based navigation systems, airport security and traffic control infrastructure, open road tolling systems and homeland security solutions. All this technology together can bring in business worth $1 billion from the civilian sector over the next 5-10 years, said Treyz.
The company is presently leading a team of companies which has bid for the final implementation phase of the Global Positioning Satellite-Aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), having successfully deployed the technology demonstration system over the past several years.
GAGAN will provide satellite-based navigation for civil aviation across South and East Asia, providing India with the most accurate, flexible and efficient air navigation system deployed.
The GAGAN design is based on the experience gained delivering the only certified space-based augmentation systems. For instance, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAS) was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in July 2003, and the MTSAT Satellite Augmentation System was certified by the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau in September 2007.
Team members include Bangalore based Accord Software and Systems Pvt. Ltd. for GPS-based user receiver prototype development optimized for the equatorial region; Gurgaon-based Elcome Technologies Pvt. Ltd. for logistical and on-site support; and Naverus, Inc., of Kent, Washington, for performance-based navigation route design, procedure flight validation and other related services.
