Article Posted on : - Nov 14, 2024

V-BAT unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Image:Northrop Grumman

NEW DELHI (PTI): JSW Defence has announced a strategic partnership with a US firm to indigenise and manufacture its 'V-BAT', an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), and said the collaboration marks a significant step in boosting India's defence capabilities by bringing in world-class UAS technology to the country.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mumbai-based JSW Group also said as part of the partnership with Shield AI, the conglomerate will invest around USD 90 million in the next two years, with USD 65 million allocated in the first 12 months to establish JSW's global compliance programme, a manufacturing facility to ensure "proper technology licensing, and training of manpower".

"This investment will enable JSW to establish a local supply chain and create an advanced facility in India for manufacturing, assembling and testing V-BAT aircraft. This effort will enable large-scale production of V-BATs in India to serve the needs of the Indian armed forces and also function as a global production hub for Shield AI," it said.

The V-BAT is a fixed-wing, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), long endurance intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) platform, currently deployed by multiple armed forces around the world, including the United States' Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs), the statement said.

It provides cutting-edge ISR functionality in a highly tactical system, capable of being forward deployed in complex and adversarial territory in order to provide a range of flexible solutions to special forces, front-line infantry, armoured and artillery units. V-BAT has a unique patented ducted design with the advantage of a small logistics footprint and ease of rapid deployment, the JSW Group said.

JSW Defence, part of the USD 24 billion JSW Group, announces partnering with Shield AI Inc, a leading US defense technology to "indigenise and manufacture Shield AI's 'V-BAT', a Group 3 Unmanned Aerial System," the statement said.

"This collaboration marks a significant step in boosting India's defense capabilities by bringing in world-class UAS technology to the country," it added.

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defence technology company whose mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. In pursuit of this mission, Shield AI is building the world's best AI pilot, it said.

"Our collaboration with Shield AI is in keeping with our commitment to induct mission-critical technologies for deployment by the Indian armed forces and play an integral role in indigenising defence technology in India. Through this partnership, we will be able to supply indigenous V-BATs at scale, provide flight operator training, and end-to-end maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services to the Indian armed forces," Parth Jindal of JSW Group was quoted as saying in the statement.

"The JSW Group has always believed in bringing world-class products and services with state-of-the-art technology into India and this partnership is yet another milestone in this journey," he said.

Sarjan Shah, Shield AI's managing director for India, said, "Shield AI has been an early mover on investing deeply in India, in line with both governments' desire for a closely integrated defence supply chain between the US and India. This partnership with JSW has been crafted over a multi-year period to transform the depth, scale and scope of India's indigenous capabilities in the field of military unmanned systems. We look forward to doing a lot more with our partners in India."