Both parties will jointly manufacture advanced precision drones, which will be able to carry a payload of around 25 kg
Chennai-based drone start-up Garuda Aerospace recently entered into a joint development partnership with Naini Aerospace Engineering Limited (NAeL), a wholly owned subsidiary of HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence. Both parties will jointly manufacture advanced precision drones, which will be able to carry a payload of around 25 kg. With this collaboration, the startup envisages having better access to clients across North, West, East and North-East regions.
On this latest collaboration, the founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace, Agnishwar Jayaprakash remarked, “Partnerships with government PSUs are critical given the knowledge and experience they possess to scale up production.”
NAeL’s CEO, R.R. Thakur said, “Our experience with the production of helicopter structures was launched in July 2018 in a newly-constructed aero-structure hangar equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.”
The drone startup claims to have partnered with 120-odd local suppliers in order to reduce imports of drone parts, components, and UAV subsystems. At the 2023 Aero India held in Bangalore earlier this year, it unveiled a solar-powered unmanned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aerial J-Glider named SURAJ. The company also initiated its indigenisation campaign by joining hands with BEML for drone manufacturing at their Mysore facility.
“Currently, key managerial positions are occupied by experienced professionals deputed from HAL to ensure compliance of operations to the aerospace standards so we are confident to bring in knowledge and experience to jointly develop drones along with Garuda Aerospace,” Mr Thakur further commented on the collaboration.
Incorporated in December 2016, Naini Aerospace is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HAL and is situated in the Naini industrial area of Prayagraj developed by UP State Industrial Development Corporation. It has a vision of sustainable manufacturing operations in the aerospace and aviation sector.
Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace was founded in 2015 and recognises itself as a ‘Drone-As-A-Software’ aggregator that designs drones for various human and industrial needs.
