Chennai: Technology firm VTOL Aviation India has joined hands with IIT Kanpur to develop Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft’s for Defence and Civil Aviation platforms.
The firm is working with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur under Industry Academia collaboration. The VTOL will be launched in Indian demography by 2020, a release from the firm said.
The new products will be the first ever Indian products in the Indian aviation sector, the release added.
The IIT-Kanpur aerospace department under this collaboration has set up a specialized VTOL air taxi lab which is equipped with a state-of-the-art facility to conduct research activities in VTOL aerospace genre.
VTOl Aviation states that the multiple configurations in the new products are fully electrical and have hybrid propulsion systems. This technology enables aircraft to take off and land almost anywhere, making them far more flexible than conventional aircrafts.
Various scaled down prototypes have been successfully tested in IIT Kanpur recently and the designs for VTOL Air Taxis and VTOL UAVs, have been reviewed by the Former Secretary of Defence R&D, Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, who is also a member of NITI Aayog, among others.
“The vision, under which VTOL Aviation India was incorporated, was to leverage advanced breakthrough innovations and developments in the field of aviation,” said founder and MD, VTOL Aviation India, Kalyan Chowdhury.
“The collaboration under Industry Academia is also aimed at motivating students to pursue scientific research in the field of aviation. Such efforts would surely make a major difference to our nation’s “Self Reliance” vision in the defence sector,” he added.