IAI signs accord to share drone tech and produce UAVs with Indian firms

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the nation’s largest aerospace and defense company, said Wednesday that it signed a strategic partnership agreement with India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Dynamatic Technologies Limited (DTL) to share drone technologies and promote the production of Indian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The memorandum of understanding signed between the parties at the DefExpo 2020 exhibition, in Lucknow, India, “will allow the implementation of optimal solutions for the needs of the local customer based on their specific technologies and needs,” IAI said in a statement.

HAL is a state-owned aerospace and defense firm headquartered in Bangalore, while DTL is a firm that focuses on precision engineering for the automotive, aerospace and hydraulic pumps industries.

IAI has been developing and selling drones for nearly 50 years, and is the exclusive UAV supplier for all of India’s military arms, the statement said. The Israeli firm provides services to over 50 customers worldwide and has logged over 1.8 million operational flight hours.

The collaboration with the Indian firms will focus on sharing technologies for upgrading UAV capabilities, and offer the Indian customers advanced systems that include integrated local technologies, the statement said.

IAI has also set up, together with a local partner, a maintenance, repair and overhaul business that will focus on UAVs “to provide the customers with high-availability responses and quick maintenance,” the statement said.