Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the new Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Production Hangar at Helicopter Division in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Complex at Bengaluru, Karnataka. LCH is a 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and developed by HAL.
Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) will be made in India, with leading aeronautical entity Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) set to a partnership with an Israeli firm.
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and Wipro 3D, the metal additive manufacturing business of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, have partnered to develop 3D-printed components that could potentially be used on aircraft manufactured by state-run HAL. Wipro 3D is the first Indian company to locally develop an industry-grade metal-additive 3D-printing machine, jointly with the Indian Institution of Science.
As part of the memorandum of understanding, HAL and Wipro 3D will jointly design, develop, prove out, manufacture and repair aerospace components using metal 3D printing technology. This initiative between HAL and Wipro 3D will create a unique synergy of capabilities that can accelerate the adoption of metal additive manufacturing in aerospace in India. Metal 3D printing has the potential to play a significant role in the success of national aerospace and defence platforms including HAL’s own needs. Globally, the aerospace industry has been one of the foremost adopters of metal 3D printing.