Cobham has appointed Colonel (Retd) H. Shankar as the Managing Director (MD) of the company’s Indian subsidiary, Cobham India Private Limited. He will be based in New Delhi.

He replaces Lee Griffiths, the outgoing MD, who will be returning to UK after six years of service to the company in India.

Shankar is an electronics engineering graduate and served for 20 years in the Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (EME) branch of the Indian Army. He held a wide range of appointments during his Army career, including command of a battalion and aviation Maintenance Flight. Retiring early as a full Colonel, Shankar headed the aerospace and defence business unit of an Indian private company before joining Cobham India in February 2011.

Cobham India has close working relationships with key customers and partners such as the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited and the Indian armed forces. Focusing on long-term strategic partnerships that create sustainable value to Indian industry, Cobham is also actively engaged in pursuing technical and business partnerships with private Indian companies.

Cobham offers an innovative range of technologies and services to solve challenging problems across commercial, defence and security markets, from deep space to the depths of the ocean. It has market leading positions in air-to-air refuelling; aviation services; audio, video and data communications, including satellite communications; defence electronics; life support and mission equipment. The company has four sectors employing more than 10,000 people on five continents, with customers and partners in over 100 countries and annual revenue of £1.79 billion in 2013.