Chile and Spain are immersed in a process that aims to strengthen their bilateral relations on an economic level, preferably in the aerospace industry.
The occasion comes as Chilean society faces the second round of elections to choose the person who will replace President Sebastián Piñera and govern the country for the period 2022-2026. The two politicians who won the most popular support on 21 November will face each other, and their electoral battle will conclude with the decisive vote scheduled for 19 December.
Whether the Republican Party candidate, José Antonio Kast, or the Apruebo Dignidad coalition candidate, Gabriel Boric, is elected, either of them or the winner's defence minister will star in early April at the inauguration of one of Chile's major business assets, the International Air and Space Fair.
Better known internationally as FIDAE, it is the leading show in Latin America dedicated to the civil and military aeronautics and space industry. Every two years, it brings together the main innovations in the field of aircraft, weapons systems, airport equipment and services, maintenance and space technology. The Fair is reserved for professionals, but is open to the public during the weekend before it closes.
FIDAE 2022 is being held from 5 to 10 April at Santiago International Airport, on the premises of the II Air Brigade of the Chilean Air Force (FACh). This is the scenario in which companies from Spain and the host country plan to lay the foundations for a new stage of industrial cooperation in aerospace. As in previous years, the Association of Defence, Security, Aeronautics and Space Technology Companies (TEDAE) is organising the national pavilion, which hosts most of the important proposals put forward by Spanish industry.
Among the fields of activity that Spain and Chile have identified as having the greatest potential for collaboration are those related to simulation, air traffic management (ATM) and cybersecurity. This was reflected in the IV Aerospace Forum organised by the Chile-Spain Foundation, which was held at the University of Salamanca and was dedicated to the new challenges of the aeronautical sector.
In the opinion of the president of the aforementioned Foundation, Emilio Gilolmo, the aeronautical and space sectors have "enormous" prospects for growth between the two countries, while at the same time there are "opportunities and challenges to be faced". But for them to become a reality, they require significant "public-private and political collaboration", said the Chilean ambassador in Madrid, Roberto Ampuero.
From his knowledge of the sector, the Deputy Director General of Air Transport of the Ministry of Transport, David Benito, confirms that the aviation of the future will be based on "sustainability and innovation", premises that "were already there before the pandemic and are now the workhorse", he assures.
In this sense, the Spanish technology company Indra, with more than 35 years of experience in simulation systems and with more than 200 simulators delivered to fifty clients in 25 countries, proposes to reach agreements in the field of trainers. "Not only do they save large amounts of CO2, but they offer a high level of training to pilots at a cost three times lower than that of simulators," stresses Enrique Castillo, the company's director of air traffic management business development.
In the area of cybersecurity, GMV sees possibilities in terms of data and information exchange, which, according to Manuel Pérez Cortés, GMV's General Manager of Defence and Security, "is the key trend in the entire aeronautical field". And in the area of aeronautical traffic, ENAIRE's Director of Air Navigation Services, Enrique Maurer, highlights the advantages of the digital technologies developed for the Single Sky concept.
FIDAE's closest reference is not the 2020 show. It was scheduled from 31 March to 5 April to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Fair, but did not take place. It had to be cancelled just before it was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had already begun to take its toll.
The most recent data correspond to the 2018 edition, which was attended by 533 exhibiting companies from 59 countries and more than 123,000 professionals and the public. There were 138 aircraft on display, which could be viewed in static form and some of which evolved in the air during the in-flight demonstrations.
Five months before the opening of the doors of FIDAE 2022, "more than 400 exhibitors from 46 nations and the visit of more than 180 official delegations have already been confirmed", according to the organisers. But next year's edition is a challenge for Chile. In a way, it means starting all over again, although the event's executive director, aviation colonel Francisco Ramírez Goñi, has no doubt that it will be a success and will allow "FIDAE to maintain its leading position in the southern hemisphere".
Industrial aeronautical relations between Chile and Spain date back to the late 1970s, when the Chilean Air Force negotiated a batch of some forty C-101 two-seater jets. Designed and manufactured by Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA, CASA, now part of Airbus, they entered service with the Chilean Air Force in 1981. Used as training or tactical ground support aircraft under the designation A/T-36 Halcón, over the years they have undergone major upgrades by ENAER, the Chilean National Aeronautics Company.
In return, the Spanish Air Force acquired a similar fleet of two-seater T-35 Pillan aircraft, which means Demon in Mapuche dialect. Catalogued E-26 Tamiz, the vast majority of them fly at the Escuela Elemental de la Academia General del Aire de San Javier, the centre that provides military and flight training to future Spanish officers. Designed and developed by ENAER, Spain acquired this model in the early 1980s and they were assembled in Getafe by what was CASA several decades ago and is now Airbus.
The Chilean Navy and Army also have Spanish C-212, CN-235 and C-295 multi-engine transport and maritime patrol aircraft. The Chilean company ENAER manufactures structures for the latter. It is also developing and flying the Pillan II, which for the company's CEO, Henry Cleveland, represents "quite a challenge". It features digital technology, new engines, infrared cameras and mooring points for conventional weapons and missiles, making it the national option for the FACh as a new training aircraft, armed patrol aircraft and also for export.