BANGALORE: Fourteen companies from the United Kingdom will be participating in Aero India – 2021. The air show will be held from February 3 to 5 at the Air Force Station, Yelahanka. The UK delegation includes a high-level team.

Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford, British deputy high commissioner to Karnataka and Kerala, gave a sneak peek at UK’s presence in the biennial event during a virtual media briefing on Thursday.

Pilmore-Bedford said that the country is confident of a strong presence by displaying expertise in combat air, complex weapons and maritime technologies at the UK Pavilion.

He said UK and India have held discussions on future combat air and there is a potential for co-operation on key systems or sub-systems to deliver mutual long-term benefits. “We believe UK has a major role to play in India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA2) and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) indigenous fighter programmes,” he said, adding that the two countries are partnering on an advanced core technologies study with the potential to develop indigenous jet engine capability.

Highlighting the fact that numerous British defence firms are already manufacturing in India, Pilmore-Bedford said: “Firearms manufacturer Webley and Scott has planned production in Uttar Pradesh.”