NEWS

Ratan Tata to fly F-16 on Friday
February 7, 2007, Hindustan Times
B. R. Srikanth, Bangalore

IT IS official. Ratan Tata will fly Lockheed Martin's fighter jet F-16 at the ‘Aero India 2007’, at Yelahanka airforce station on Friday.

Robert H. Trice, senior vice president, corporate business development, Lockheed Martin Corp, on Tuesday said, "Tata will fly as a co-pilot in the F-16 with the lead pilot from the US Air Force at the air show on Friday. The duration of the flight and other details are being worked out."

"We are not in a position to disclose the specific details of the sortie in which Tata will take part. All we can say now is he will fly one of the F-16 of the US Air Force on Friday," he said.

The $40-billion US aerospace major will display two versions of the F-16 fighter with GE and Pratt & Whitney engines, a C130J transport plane, a P-3 maritime patrol aircraft and MH-60R helicopter at the air show.

Ahead of the air show, the US aerospace major, announced an innovation programme for Indian companies to develop new technologies and harness their export potential. India would be the first country in the APAC region and second after Poland to benefit from such a programme.

The two-year programme would be administered by the IC2, Institute of the University of Texas, Austin, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI).

Trice said, "We will provide all the funding for the innovation growth programme to Indian entrepreneurs, inventors, technologists and researchers for developing technologies with commercial applications on a global scale."

The programme is aimed at preparing Indian firms to launch early-stage commercial technologies into the global marketplace and drive their export opportunities.

The Indian firms for the programme will be selected through an evaluation process. About 30 of them will be selected to participate in an entrepreneurship workshop to be delivered by the faculty of the University of Texas. In the final phase, six finalist firms will be imparted business development training.