Photographer: Prakash Singh / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Prakash Singh / AFP / Getty Images
Tata Group, the largest conglomerate in India, is set to build a military aircraft to advance Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission to support local defense capabilities and reduce dependence on expensive imports.
Now-held Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. will demonstrate “its capabilities in twin-engine high-altitude aircraft” for military use at a defense expo in Bengaluru this week, a company spokesman said in an email on Tuesday without sharing further details. The Economic Times reported earlier that the firm Tata had acquired the necessary intellectual property rights from a German-origin platform.
If the venture is successful, it will be the first time a private sector has succeeded in building military-grade aircraft – an area of high-tech expertise that has traditionally been the exclusive domain of state-sponsored Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. or foreign defense contractors. It also emphasizes the pressure of Modi for ‘Independent India ‘and’Make In India ‘- its distinctive programs aimed at promoting local manufacturing and consumption.
Border guard
The new Tata aircraft, which was first taken over, can be used for military purposes for border surveillance, among other things. It will be presented in Aero India 2021, the spokesperson said. The Aviation and Defense Exhibition, held every alternate year in the South Indian city of Bengaluru, is held from 3 to 5 February.
While Modi’s multi-billion dollar business prospects for Indian conglomerates such as the Tata Group, Adani Group, Larsen & Toubro Ltd. And Mahindra & Mahindra Group opened, the ability to manufacture military aircraft requires deep pockets and a tenacity to overcome multiple setbacks. . Many Indian groups have been trying to make such planes for decades, with little success.
So far, only Hindustan Aeronautics has achieved this feat. It manufactured the twin-engine HF-24 Marut six decades ago – India’s first indigenous fighter bomber – and more recently developed the light fighter jets. Tejas.
“Any new venture in the field of aviation is welcome, it contributes to the ecosystem,” said Air Marshal Ragunath Nambiar, former Vice President of the Indian Air Force. He also warned that he was not sure whether the Indian Air Force would need enough aircraft “in the near future to justify a production line.”