Tata Will Manufacture Military Aircraft In India, Gets Intellectual Property Rights From the German-Origin Network
The Tata Group has acquired intellectual property rights for a site of German origin to design and produce indigenous military aircraft in India.
The group plans to combine native sensors and payloads into an intelligence-gathering asset. A wide variety of roles can be played by twin-engine, high-altitude aircraft. It can be used for cross-border surveillance, along with signal intelligence, and is currently in its final phase of testing in Germany.
Its further incorporation will take place in about three months after its arrival in India. Manufacturing of full military aircraft was, until now, part of the state-owned aerospace and defence corporation Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). However, this is the first time a private Indian company has ventured into this space. Grob G 180 SPn is a German jet that has not reached serial production due to financial complications and Tata’s military aircraft is planned to be based on its architecture.
It can fly at an altitude of 41,000 feet and up to a height of 45,000 feet. The aircraft is estimated to have a range of 1,800 nautical miles, an endurance of six to seven hours, a payload capability of more than 1000 kg and will land on gravel and turf.
It may be used for intelligence collection, monitoring and rebirth (ISR) purposes. The capabilities of this aircraft will be demonstrated this week by the Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) at AeroIndia in Bengaluru. The organization insists that this expenditure is planned to be used in the coming times for the needs of the armed forces.
TASL MD Sukaran Singh said, “We are now focusing on modifying the aircraft to fit special payloads so that it can undertake a demonstration of surveillance capabilities. For a country like India, with multiple mountain ranges spread across the country, including on international borders, this capacity is extremely vital. India has been dependent on foreign suppliers to meet this need.”
“With TASL bringing this aircraft technology to the table, India will have a cutting edge airborne surveillance platform with software control, customization and maintenance based across the country,” Singh added. The Tata Group would soon set up a plant to produce these newly built aircraft.
