Tata Elxsi, NAL partner for UAV and urban air mobility tech

Mid-cap technology services firm Tata Elxsi signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) on Tuesday to establish a partnership focused on advanced air mobility.

NAL is India's first and largest aerospace research organisation, set up by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Delhi in 1959.

The collaboration aims to drive innovation in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), urban air mobility (UAM), and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. By combining NAL's aeronautical expertise with Tata Elxsi's strengths in electrification, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), sensor fusion, and certification, the partnership intends to support both global and Indian markets, the company stated in a regulatory filing.

The UAV and UAM markets are rapidly evolving, with applications spanning logistics, agriculture, defence, and urban transportation. This partnership will accelerate product development cycles by providing access to advanced testing infrastructure and methodologies. Tata Elxsi and CSIR-NAL will also focus on technologies such as aerodynamic design, autonomous systems, and secure communications tailored to the needs of both manned and unmanned air mobility systems.

India's initiatives, such as Make in India, and the growing demand for advanced air mobility solutions present significant opportunities. This partnership aims to build a robust ecosystem that includes precision manufacturing, component suppliers, and tool vendors, while also influencing industry regulations and standards to foster a sustainable innovation framework.

Manoj Raghavan, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Elxsi, said, “We believe the future of aerospace innovation lies in technologies like UAVs and Urban Air Mobility." He expressed confidence that the partnership with NAL could push the boundaries of innovation and accelerate the development of next-generation air mobility solutions for global customers.

Abhay A. Pashilkar, Director at CSIR-NAL, added that this combined expertise would lead to innovative, scalable, and sustainable solutions that will shape the future of urban transportation.

Additionally, Tata Elxsi and CSIR-NAL are creating an ecosystem that integrates precision manufacturing, tools, components, and vendor partnerships to enhance scalability and address the unique requirements of advanced air mobility systems.

This announcement follows Tata Elxsi's recent collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies to advance the development of Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) by leveraging Qualcomm's Snapdragon Digital Chassis solutions alongside Tata Elxsi's expertise.