New Delhi – Jubilant Bhartia Group, a renowned diversified Indian conglomerate, has signalled its entry into the defence sector by announcing its plans to manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in India.
Jubilant Bhartia has set up Jubilant Aeronautics (JAPL), a joint venture wherein Israel’s leading defence corporation called Aeronautics will pick up a 26% stake and produce UAVs. The new venture will be based in Bangalore and will manufacture UAVs for defence and civil purposes besides looking after the integration, maintenance, repair and overhaul of UAVs as well.
The current joint venture has been forwarded to the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) seeking its clearance to the equity investment by Israel’s Aeronautics. The creation of this joint venture will enable India to have powerful UAVs made indigenously, an area where India lacks superior technology. The UAVs made by Jubilant Aeronautics will assist India’s homeland security as well as the monitoring of oil and gas pipelines, weather forecasting and traffic monitoring and disaster management among others.
Jubilant Aeronautics plans to make the most of the growing UAV market in India. By tying up with Israel’s Aeronautics, which is Israel’s second-largest provider of unmanned systems, Jubilant Bhartia hopes to tap the world UAV market which roughly does a business of $5.5 billion annually. The UAV market is being driven by major acquisition programmes, mainly by the US, but also by countries in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.
As for the India, UAV technologies are expected to re-shape its national defence strategies and policies. In addition, maritime operations and surveillance and reconnaissance operations in India are creating a rise in the demand for medium altitude long endurance UAV (MALE UAVs) and tactical UAV (TUAVs). The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is also putting its expertise to make India self-reliant in terms of UAV technology. Various tactical UAVs including High altitude long endurance (HALE) UAV, Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV and Medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAV are being envisaged by the India for its armed forces.
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