India builds drones, shares blueprints

[Water Car Engineer]

India is opening up the designs of its first indigenously developed drones to domestic private companies, seeking to spur further technological advances and encourage manufacturing as Prime Minister Narendra Modi modernizes the military.

Previously secret blueprints for the Rustom drones are being made available under a drive to boost the defense industry, a break from the past practice of relying on state-run companies, according to K. Tamilmani, aeronautical director general at the Defense Research & Development Organization in New Delhi.

"We're now talking of sharing everything that we develop," Tamilmani said in an interview. "The concept of public-sector defense companies alone making everything that the Indian armed forces need is gone."

One variant of the Rustom that's already flying will be made by private companies, Tamilmani said in the Sept. 9 interview. He declined to identify which businesses are talking with the government.

India builds drones, shares blueprints