US drone major Skydio teams up with India's Aeroarc to make UAVs here

A leading American unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer, Skydio, has teamed up with India’s Aeroarc “to make the world’s most advanced drones available for Indian government customers, compliant with local regulations and world class security standards.” The California-based major was founded by some grad students at MIT in 2009 and two years later it turned into a unicorn and also the first US drone manufacturer to exceed $1 billion in value. It was selected by the US military to supply short range reconnaissance drones worth $100 million.

Arjun Aggarwal-founded Aeroarc is a leading Indian drone manufacturer which has partnerships with leading global innovators. India does not permit import of foreign drones in a bid to become a manufacturing hub for UAVs. “India is a poised to become the world’s factory, while setting new benchmarks for quality standards. Skydio (which uses 100% non-Chinese components) has partnered with us and that will enable local adoption of their technology which is being used by the US army and other global security forces too,” stated Aggarwal, adding, “Skydio has a unique AI technology to navigate its surroundings in real-time, allowing these UAVs to fly in complex obstacle dense environments with ease.”

“As the United States deepens its strategic partnership with India, Skydio is excited to partner with Aeroarc to make the world’s most advanced drones available for Indian government customers, compliant with local regulations and world class security standards,” Skydio Tweeted Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden had last May declared the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) to elevate and expand strategic technology partnership and defence industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of the two countries. “There is tremendous faith in Indian technology and trust in India. We are making in India for the world now and orders have started pouring in from Japan, Asia and the Gulf, among other places. There is a clear intent to eliminate the traditional drone supply chain (read from China),” Arjun Aggarwal had lately said. His company currently has a manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu and will soon open at least two more in other parts of India. “We are now setting up our own battery manufacturing unit in India to tackle the issue of battery shortage faced by the drone industry and ramp up manufacturing,” Aggarwal said.