Aerospace firms Garuda, Naini team up for drone manufacturing

The advanced precision drones will be able to carry a payload of around 25 kg.

Chennai headquartered drone start-up Garuda Aerospace and Naini Aerospace engineering Limited (NAeL), a wholly owned subsidiary of HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence, have signed a joint development partnership to manufacture Advanced Precision Drones. The drones which will be made by Garuda Aerospace will be able to carry a payload of around 25 kg.

“Partnerships with government PSUs are critical given the knowledge and experience they possess to scale up production,” said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace.

R.R. Thakur, Chief Executive Officer, Naini Aerospace engineering Limited (NAeL) 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 first batch of helicopter structures duly cleared by the Director General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) was delivered to the helicopter division of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in November 2018. NAeL has now reached the level of full-fledged operationalisation with proven capabilities in the field of production of aero-structures and aircraft loom manufacturing.

“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,” he added.

Garuda Aerospace recently partnered with BEML at Aero India for drone manufacturing at their Mysore facility and initiated a massive indigenisation campaign. The company has also collaborated with 120 local suppliers with the objective of reducing reliance on foreign imports of drone parts, components, and UAV subsystems.

Naini Aerospace engineering Limited (NAeL) was incorporated in December 2016 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Naini Aerospace has a vision of sustainable manufacturing operations in the aerospace and aviation sector and is situated in the Naini industrial area of Prayagraj developed by UP State Industrial Development Corporation.