CHENNAI: Continuing its years-long efforts to have the facility set up in Tamil Nadu, the state government has urged the union government to establish the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) in the state.
The request, placed this time by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay during his recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, comes when CABS has revealed plans to expand its infrastructure in order to support six Netra Mk1A and six Netra Mk2 airborne surveillance aircraft.
According to official sources, Tamil Nadu has been lobbying for several years to bring the DRDO’s CABS facility to Hosur. With a single Netra Mk1 aircraft estimated to cost around `2,000 crore to build, the facility could generate high-technology jobs and strengthen the state’s aerospace manufacturing ecosystem, they said.
During his meeting with PM Modi on Wednesday, Vijay said discussions had been going on for the past few years with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) over the establishment of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) Design and Development Centre and CABS in TN. This also comes after the union government awarded key infrastructure linked to the country’s proposed AMCA programme to Andhra Pradesh.
Sources said TN is highlighting its manufacturing base, electronics ecosystem and aviation infrastructure around Hosur and Chennai to attract projects related to airborne surveillance systems, advanced radar technologies and combat aircraft development.Officials believe Hosur is well suited for such expansion because of its proximity to Bengaluru’s aerospace cluster and previous DRDO-linked flight testing activity,among others.