After sessions at Nagpur and Bangalore, it is now the turn of Chandigarh to host a partnership conference, Air Force-Industry Rendezvous (AIR) - 98. Jointly organised by the Air Force and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), AIR-98 is to be held at the CII facilities at Chandigarh on November 2-3.

Like Nagpur and Bangalore earlier, Chandigarh has been chosen as the nodal venue for the northern region since the Air Force has a Base Repair Depot (BRD) adjoining the base. Nagpur was the venue of BOND AIR-97 in November 1997, and Bangalore hosted LINK AIR-98 in May this year.

The spare parts crisis hit the Air Force - as it struck the Army and the Navy - soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Flying equipment which wasprimarily of Soviet origin, the Air Force was particularly vulnerable during the mid-1990s. While some spares have since then been coming in, a significant number are simply unavailable. The aircraft for which the Air Force is sourcing Indian industry for spares include the Mi-8/16, Mi-25/35 series of helicopters and the An-32 and IL-76 transporters.

The logic for these partnership conferences, say South Block sources, is for both sides to develop an understanding of each others' requirements, and then take participation and direct interaction to the floor level. ``That means we want the job of the BRDs to be made hassle-free. Their output should not suffer for want of spares,'' said the sources.

The needs of the Air Force that can be met through indigenous sources includes various kinds of rubber seals, high quality alloy steels, electrical and electronic spares, metallic items and other materials. These, said the sources, are items which even the aircraft manufacturers are unable to produce. ``There isthus no clash of interests between us, the industry and the original manufacturers,'' said a South Block official.

The list of participants for AIR-98 includes representatives of the eight Air Force BRDs, those of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the Defence Research and Development Organisation, defence public sector units and the top brass of the Army and Naval aviation corps. While the Air Force is anxious that this partnership develop into a long term understanding, there are still doubts whether the industry will bite the bait. The route of the future, said sources, is for Indian industry to move into the export of spares for aircraft of Soviet origin.

``There are so many air forces all over the world flying some of the same equipment, as well as private operators, it makes sense for Indian industry to develop an expertise here so as to be able to tie-up for a global reach,'' said an aviator familiar with Russian equipment.