Post 2 on #Swavlamban2026. Some amazing aviation innovation being undertaken by @XinfinitiA under @India_iDEX for @indiannavy. HEFS (Helicopter Emergency Floatation System), the first fully designed & made-in-India CEMILAC-compliant safety-critical float for Naval Chetak (also later aimed at ALH) is ready for wide implementation after successfully completing development & trials in record time. This would probably be the fastest case in aviation. I personally have never come across CEMILAC clearance so fast. The stall allotted was number 1 & the place assigned for the display right under the banner which read ‘Success Stories’! That itself gives you an idea about the current status of induction. Another interesting ongoing case by the same startup is the NCAS (Naval Chetak Autonomous System) via M2UC manned-to-uncrewed conversion. Smart way to extend life of legacy platforms with autonomy, ISR/ASW capability and lower risk. Would also be useful for @adgpi, @IAF_MCC & @IndiaCoastGuard. With unmanned systems many limitations of night flying, high altitude & even payloads can be overcome. #NIIO #TDAC #AtmanirbharBharat (BTW, someone had commented, rather sarcastically, on my article on the naval helicopter history saying I should also check why the unmanned Chetak is not moving. I did. It is) @BharatShaktiBSI @nitingokhale @ragebaitop

Post 3 on #Swavlamban2026. At the @dpropulse stall. Young startup. Good results in quick time. Impressive progress on what is probably India’s first indigenous air-breathing Rotating Detonation Engine. They hot-fired a 5 kN class RDE (with aerospike) at DRDL earlier this year, reaching TRL-5. IIT Madras-incubated, led by @SJha1618 & Dr Ramanujachari (CTO, former DRDO, scramjet expert). Compact, higher-efficiency propulsion with real potential for high-speed munitions and UAVs. Huge potential for collaboration with other startups and even DPSUs. #AtmanirbharBharat @indiannavy @SIDMIndia @sriramthg

India’s R&D intensity remains stuck near 0.84% of GDP even as absolute spending has risen. China is already at ~2.8%. The gap is not just money. It is the difference between funding prototypes and building the core science expertise, continuous process knowledge, private R&D capacity & demand-side commitment that turn research into proprietary industrial capability. Mechanisms like iDEX help at the early stage, but they cannot substitute for higher national intensity + clear pathways from TRL-7/8 to multi-year production. Without that, talent& pilots continue to outrun institutional conversion. Do read the article by @InsightGL insightful.co.in/2026/10/20/…