Adani Group formally opened on Friday a $15-million unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) complex in Hyderabad in association with Israeli partner Elbit Systems.
The group, whose diversified interests range from edible oil and power generation to ports, also wants to give shape to a helicopter transmission gear box facility in partnership with Rave Gears of the U.S. by September 2019.
The 50,000 sq. ft. UAV complex is the first such manufacturing facility in India and the first outside Israel to manufacture the Hermes 900 medium altitude long endurance UAV.
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Hermes 900 UAV
The facility, set up on the outskirts of Hyderabad, would begin operations by manufacturing complete carbon composite aero-structures for the Hermes 900 UAV of Elbit Systems used by customers in several countries. This would be followed by the manufacture of aero-structures for Hermes 450. The first aero-structure from the complex would roll out in March 2019. While the initial focus would be on exports, the objective of the 51:49 joint venture (JV) between Adani Defence and Aerospace and Elbit Systems is to become UAV supplier to the Indian armed forces. Thus, the JV intends to ramp up for the assembly and integration of complete UAVs at the complex, something Elbit’s executive vice-president Elad Aharonson estimated could entail an investment of $50 million.
Stating that Adani Aerospace Park was also inaugurated, Ashish Rajvanshi, head of Adani Defence and Aerospace, said the company with its global partners and MSMEs in India, including Comprotech, AutoTEC, Alpha Tocol, and Alpha Design Technologies was looking at different areas.
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