Make in India: Parts of unmanned aircraft will be made in the country, General Atomics tied up with Bharat Forge.


Top US drone maker General Atomics has announced a tie-up with Bharat Forge Limited to manufacture landing gear and spare parts for unmanned aircraft in India.


The move will help develop a manufacturing ecosystem for manufacturing state-of-the-art drones in India.


San Diego-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), a subsidiary of General Atomics, has said its partnership with Bharat Forge Ltd will help build significant capabilities for both the companies. This will give impetus to the unmanned aircraft industry in India.


“GA-ASI looks forward to working with Bharat Forge to manufacture components for unmanned aircraft,” said Vivek Lall, chief executive of General Atomics Global Corporation.


With over five decades of experience in manufacturing a wide range of high-performance critical safety equipment, Bharat Forge has the capability to conceptualise, design, engineer, manufacture, test and validate products, the company said.


Baba Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Forge Limited, said that aerospace is a ‘technology intensive’ sector, which depends on the accuracy, reliability and non-defects of the product. He said, as part of our aerospace development strategy, we have partnered with GA-ASI.