Many firsts, global footprint: How Ratan Tata left a mark on defence sector

Under Ratan Tata's leadership, the Tata Group invested heavily in the country's defence production sector and entered into JVs with global arms giants like Boeing and Lockheed Martin

Ratan Naval Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, died on Wednesday at age 86 in Mumbai, leaving behind a group deeply embedded in the Indian and global defence ecosystem.

Under Ratan Tata's leadership, who served as chairman of the salt-to-software conglomerate from 1991 to 2012, the Tata Group invested heavily in the country's defence production sector.

As a highlight of this commitment, in October 2022, Ratan Tata praised the establishment of the Tata-Airbus joint venture for the production of C-295 aircraft in India. This was the realisation of his decade-old vision of establishing a private aircraft manufacturing facility in India.

 

This was also in line with the Tata Group's long association with the defence sector, which dates back to the 1940s when it supplied armoured steel to aid the war effort during World War II. The Tata Group also produced the "Tatanagar", an armoured car manufactured in India during World War II that was utilised by Indian forces under British command in the Far East, Mediterranean, and West Asia (Middle East) theatres.

Even after India's independence in 1947, Tata continued to invest in meeting the country's military needs, with Tata Motors going on to become the largest private sector mobility provider in India's defence industry.

In addition to being a key supplier of mobility solutions to the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Tata has reportedly delivered over 100,000 vehicles to the country's various paramilitary and state Police forces. It also exports military vehicles to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), ASEAN, and African nations.

Starting from the early 2000s, Tata has also entered into various ventures with major global defence players to not only bring their platforms to India but to also become a part of their global supply chain.

Building C-130J Super Hercules components

United States (US) defence giant Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), a subsidiary of Tata Sons, established a joint venture in 2010, named Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Ltd (TLMAL), which serves as the global sole source of the C-130J Super Hercules military transport's empennage assemblies that are used in all new aircraft produced in the US. To date, the company has manufactured over 220 empennages.

Made-in-India Sikorsky helicopter cabins

TASL also entered into a joint venture with the US' Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation to manufacture components of the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter in India for both the domestic civil and military markets. The plan included a $200 million production facility that would become operational in Hyderabad by 2010. The first S-92 cabin was reportedly delivered in November 2010.

By October 2013, the joint venture announced that its S-92 helicopter cabin production in India had become 100 per cent indigenous. It was also announced that the India operation was not only assembling cabins at Hyderabad, but also producing all parts -- more than 5,000 associated precision components -- needed for the assembly, before shipping the cabins to the US for aircraft completion.

The same month, the Hyderabad facility also produced its 50th S-92 helicopter cabin.

Since then, this joint venture with Sikorsky has reportedly expanded to include aerospace component production for other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Consolidating its businesses across aerospace and defence

In April 2018, Tata Sons announced that it was in the process of consolidating its various businesses across the aerospace and defence sectors into a single entity -- Tata Aerospace & Defence (Tata A&D). The intention behind the formation of Tata A&D was that it would enable Tata to better target emerging opportunities in aerospace and defence, enhance its competitiveness in global markets, and support the government's "Make in India" initiative.

It was envisaged that after the consolidation, Tata A&D would draw synergies from various entities across the group, including Tata Motors' Defence Division, TAL Manufacturing Solutions Limited (a subsidiary of Tata Motors), Tata Power's Strategic Engineering Division, Tata Advanced Materials Limited, and TASL.

Tata A&D would provide a full range of integrated solutions, including land mobility solutions like combat support vehicles, light armoured vehicles, mine-protected vehicles, wheeled armoured amphibious platforms (WHAP), Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV), and Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV); airborne platforms and systems like unmanned aerial vehicles, rotary platforms, mission systems, and avionics; and weapon systems, sensors, and C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computer, and Intelligence) solutions like radars, sonars, electro-optic systems, electronics for land systems, homeland security sensors, border management systems, and command control and communication systems for air defence and naval combat.

Alongside this consolidation, Tata continued to grow its role in the global defence space.

Building Apache attack helicopter fuselages

Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited (TBAL), a joint venture between Boeing and TASL, inaugurated a facility in Hyderabad in 2018, which serves as the exclusive global manufacturer of AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fuselages, which are supplied to Boeing's global clientele.

In January 2023, TBAL delivered the first fuselage for six AH-64 Apache helicopters ordered by the Indian Army from its facility in Hyderabad. By that time, TBAL had supplied Boeing's Apache final assembly plant in Arizona, US, with over 190 fuselages, with over 90 per cent of the parts used in these aerostructure assemblies being manufactured within India through over 100 micro, small and medium enterprises.

The Tata Group also won the "Supplier of the year" award 2022 from Boeing, from among more than 11,000 suppliers worldwide.

TBAL's Hyderabad facility also produces complex aero-structures for Boeing 737 and 777 models.

Giving the F-16 wings

In September 2018, TASL and Lockheed Martin announced an agreement to commence production of wings for the F-16 combat aircraft in India for export. A release by Tata said that this initiative had positioned TASL to become the provider of wings for all future customers and strengthened its role in the F-16 global supply chain.

In December 2021, the initiative recorded a milestone when Tata-Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited (TLMAL) successfully qualified the first F-16 wing built in India. Manufacturing the wing of a high-performance fighter aircraft added another feather in the cap for Tata, with TLMAL subsequently positioned to compete for global F-16 wing orders.

In subsequent years, Tata has further bolstered its presence in defence aerospace.

Setting up India's first private sector aircraft manufacturing facility

In September 2023, Airbus Defence and Space handed over the first of 56 C295 tactical transport aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) to begin replacing its ageing Avros-748 fleet, under a 2021 contract that was the largest order in the history of the C295 platform.

However, while the first 16 C295s are being assembled in Spain, the remaining 40 C295s of the IAF order will be manufactured and assembled in partnership with TASL at a final assembly line facility in Vadodara, Gujarat.

The Vadovara facility is expected to be operational by November 2024 and the first 'Made-in-India' C295 is expected to roll out in September 2026.

Vadovara's C-295 facility will be the first aircraft manufacturing facility in India's private sector.

Setting up India's first private sector helicopter final assembly line

In January 2024, Airbus Helicopters announced its partnership with the Tata Group to set up a final assembly line for H125 helicopters in India. This facility will produce helicopters for both the Indian market and export to neighbouring countries.

This will mark the first time a private-sector entity has established a helicopter manufacturing facility in India. Under the partnership, TASL will collaborate with Airbus Helicopters to set up the facility.

Flying to greater heights in the defence MRO sector

In September 2024, Lockheed Martin and TASL signed an agreement that outlined a framework for future business opportunities, including the establishment of a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in India to support the IAF's existing fleet of 12 C-130Js and other global Super Hercules fleets.

If Lockheed secures the IAF's Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) contract, the agreement envisages expanding C-130J manufacturing and assembly in India to produce aircraft for the MTA programme, subject to approvals from both the US and Indian governments.

Setting up first Indian defence OEM plant outside India

Also in September 2024, TASL announced a strategic agreement with Morocco's Royal Armed Forces for locally assembling the WhaP 8x8 -- a wheeled, amphibious, light armoured vehicle -- at its manufacturing unit in Casablanca, Morocco.

According to TASL, this will not only be Morocco's first large defence manufacturing plant, but also the first defence manufacturing plant established outside India by an Indian defence OEM.

This facility, which will be a 100 per cent subsidiary of TASL, will initially fulfil the contracted quantity to meet the needs of the Royal Moroccan Army, after which, it will become an export hub to meet the requirements of other countries, especially in Africa.

Through these investments, the Tata Group has cemented its place in the Indian defence sector. It is involved in a number of major Indian military programmes, including the development of the TATA Kestrel armoured personnel carrier, production and maintenance of the Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers, Akash surface-to-air missile systems, and control systems for the Arihant-class nuclear submarine, and the production and development of the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System.