Inaugurates India’s first state-of-the-art metal-to-metal bonding facility; Announces increased indigenisation, pushing government’s ‘Make In India’ agenda; Creation of job opportunities for skilled labour

Hyderabad:  Lockheed Martin Aerostructures (TLMAL), a joint venture between Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), today inaugurated India’s first-of-its-kind metal-to-metal bonding facility at Adibatla, Hyderabad.

The new 4,700 square-meter metal-to-metal bonding facility adds a new cutting-edge capability to the Indian aerospace industry and enables TASL to use this technology across manufacturing programmes for complex aero-structures manufacturing and increased indigenisation, which directly supports the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. More than 80 skilled employees will work in this facility, which can be expanded to support future work.

TLMAL is also increasing the indigenisation of C-130 manufacturing by transitioning the production of approximately 2,000 previously imported empennage parts to Tata Sikorsky Aerospace (TSAL), another Tata-Lockheed Martin joint venture located here. These parts were previously manufactured by suppliers located outside of India.

The new facility and capacity expansion creates new job opportunities for skilled workers in India’s manufacturing sector and provide on-the-job training, which supports the Government of India’s ‘Skills India’ initiative.

Employing 500 people, TLMAL currently produces 24 C-130 empennages annually. To date, 85 TLMAL-built empennages have been installed on C-130Js delivered by Lockheed Martin to its global customers, including the Indian Air Force. More than 400 C-130Js have been delivered to operators in 18 nations around the world.

George Shultz, vice president and general manager, air mobility and maritime missions, Lockheed Martin, said, “Given the C-130J’s worldwide presence, it is fitting that one of its core components is the result of a strong global partnership that we have with India, Tata and TLMAL. The TLMAL team continues to exceed expectations in terms of quality of work and in meeting delivery commitments. Today, we celebrate the success of TLMAL, its growth in terms of capabilities, and its impact here in Hyderabad, in India and around the world.”

Sukaran Singh, MD & CEO, Tata Advanced Systems, said, “We are delighted to expand the scope of our partnership with Lockheed Martin, a testament of TASL’s increasing capabilities in complex aero-structure manufacturing. It is a matter of pride that aero-structure components manufactured at our Indian facility are an integral part of the world’s most successful and advanced tactical airlifter, which is also being used by the Indian Air Force. TASL continuously strives to strengthen the manufacturing capabilities of the country by bringing cutting-edge technologies, and building capability and capacity to make India more self-reliant.”