Bengaluru aerospace ecosystem gives wings to startups to fly high

The medical team at Seppa in Arunachal Pradesh had been confronting the challenge of supplying medicines and vaccines in difficult terrains of the mountainous region but not anymore.

Startup company Redwing Aerospace Labs in Bengaluru has developed an indigenously developed medical drone called 'Crane' which has been deployed in the frontier state in the northeast.

The drone manufacturer is among many aerospace companies thriving in Bengaluru owing to the 'aerospace ecosystem' prevailing in the city.

The ongoing Aero India-2023, which is the 14th edition of the biennial event in Bengaluru, gives a glimpse of the flourishing aerospace industry here as a significant number of stalls are occupied by city-based firms.

Many aerospace firms here are not only supplying products and services to "biggies" such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Indian Space Research Organisation, Defence Research and Development Organisation and Bharat Electronics Limited but also to several multinational companies like Airbus and Boeing.

They are also offering solutions which can make life easy for the people at large and help the defence forces in their combat operations, according to officials of various startups here.

"Crane is a prototype. It's an 'aircraft' which can travel 100 km carrying five kg of medicines and vaccines. Currently, we are operating in Arunachal Pradesh in a small town called Seppa," Aryaman Bansal, an executive in Redwing Aerospace Labs, told PTI on Friday.

The firm is flying the indigenously developed drone daily to deliver medicines in far-off areas in just 30 minutes, which otherwise would take a long time by road, he explained.

This prototype can solve the medical supply chain issues and can be deployed in other regions of the country, Bansal added.

According to him, Aero India is breaking the myth that drones are meant for destructive purposes alone as there are products that can be used for various constructive activities such as medical supply, and speedy and hassle-free product delivery.

Another startup Artpark incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is also into drone manufacturing.

"Ours is an advanced air mobility solution. We are targeting the cargo-logistics segment. Our model can carry 25 kg of payload," Chandrashekhar, one of the developers of the model, said.

JJG Machining, which manufactures critical components for the aerospace industry, is located at Jigani in Bengaluru.

One of its executives Khadar Ismail said the firm has signed a contract with Germany-based Liebherr Group. "We signed the agreement with Liebherr Germany for which we had been trying for the past three years. It could happen due to the (ongoing) Aero India show," Ismail said.

According to him, JJG Machining is a 100 per cent export oriented firm and its customers include Valeo, a major engine manufacturer in France.

Pinaka Aerospace Solutions is another aerospace and defence company, which manufactures Line Replaceable Units (LRU) for fighter aircraft.

"This is an electronic system, which goes onboard in the fighter aircraft which are required for flying the aircraft, as well as to carry out some defence-related functions like electronic warfare systems," Meesala Appala Naidu, an executive of the firm, told PTI.

"We make automatic test equipment for validating the various systems onboard the aircraft. When the system is not working, we bring it to the lab and then you connect it to the test equipment. Then, we check all the parameters to find out what is wrong with the unit and the need to change the component and replace it subsequently. We repair the engines," Naidu said.

According to Indian Air Force officer Wing Commander Ashish Moghe, Bengaluru has always been a tech hub. The presence of HAL, ISRO, IISc and leading IT companies made it conducive for the aerospace industry, he said.