Indian firm gets a foothold in prized global ‘kamikaze’ and armed drones market

As ‘kamikaze’ and armed drones become the new buzzwords after the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict showed their deadly potency, an Indian firm based in Kanpur has managed to get a foothold in this sector.

Sources in the defence and security establishment have told ThePrint that 90 per cent of the composite structures (fuselage, wing, tail) of armed drones and loitering munition (also known as kamikaze drones) — being assembled by a leading Israeli aerospace firm — are now being made at a manufacturing plant of Lohia Aerospace Systems, part of the Lohia Group, in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur.

The Lohia Group had in 2019 acquired an Israeli company called Light and Strong Ltd, which specialises in production of aerospace and military carbon-fibre and glass-fibre composite components.

The Israeli company was already a sub-vendor for multiple Israeli firms in supply of carbon structures that form the mainframe of multiple products, including drones that are exported globally.

Sources said that the Lohia Group had simultaneously set up a manufacturing plant in the UP Defence Corridor (special zones for defence manufacturing firms), which is now making these structures for the Israeli original equipment manufacturer.

Contacted by ThePrint, the Lohia Group refused to comment on the matter, saying that it does not want to talk about its work in the defence sector due to a “strict non-disclosure agreement”.

However, sources said the Kanpur facility manufactures the carbon composite fuselage and wings of a number of Israeli armed drones and loitering munition.

As ‘kamikaze’ and armed drones become the new buzzwords after the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict showed their deadly potency, an Indian firm based in Kanpur has managed to get a foothold in this sector.

Sources in the defence and security establishment have told ThePrint that 90 per cent of the composite structures (fuselage, wing, tail) of armed drones and loitering munition (also known as kamikaze drones) — being assembled by a leading Israeli aerospace firm — are now being made at a manufacturing plant of Lohia Aerospace Systems, part of the Lohia Group, in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur.

The Lohia Group had in 2019 acquired an Israeli company called Light and Strong Ltd, which specialises in production of aerospace and military carbon-fibre and glass-fibre composite components.

The Israeli company was already a sub-vendor for multiple Israeli firms in supply of carbon structures that form the mainframe of multiple products, including drones that are exported globally.

Sources said that the Lohia Group had simultaneously set up a manufacturing plant in the UP Defence Corridor (special zones for defence manufacturing firms), which is now making these structures for the Israeli original equipment manufacturer.

Contacted by ThePrint, the Lohia Group refused to comment on the matter, saying that it does not want to talk about its work in the defence sector due to a “strict non-disclosure agreement”.

However, sources said the Kanpur facility manufactures the carbon composite fuselage and wings of a number of Israeli armed drones and loitering munition.

Source: The print