“A key highlight of the event was the unveiling of two indigenously developed uncrewed systems platforms by L&T Precision Engineering and Systems business. Vedh Mk1 is a high-altitude, runway-independent remotely piloted aircraft system designed for operations in challenging terrain, while Chanakya is a decentralized collaborative mission autonomy framework engineered to enable coordinated operations across multiple unmanned platforms.”
L&T Innovation Fund, L&T’s Group-wide innovation platform, identifies, evaluates and scales emerging technologies that can create business value across the organization. Within this broader innovation agenda, drones have emerged as a strategic focus area, driven by rapid advances in autonomy, artificial intelligence and unmanned systems, alongside growing adoption across defence, infrastructure, construction, logistics and public services.
Against this backdrop, L&T hosted L&T Manthan – Drone Demo Day in Bengaluru, bringing together 21 drone and uncrewed systems startups for live demonstrations. The event enabled L&T teams to evaluate deployment-ready technologies, identify Proof of Concept opportunities and explore co-development and IP-led partnerships.
A key highlight of the event was the unveiling of two indigenously developed uncrewed systems platforms by L&T Precision Engineering and Systems business. Vedh Mk1 is a high-altitude, runway-independent remotely piloted aircraft system designed for operations in challenging terrain, while Chanakya is a decentralized collaborative mission autonomy framework engineered to enable coordinated operations across multiple unmanned platforms. Both platforms have been developed entirely in India and reinforce L&T’s growing capabilities in indigenous defence and unmanned systems technologies.
The strategic focus on drones is aligned with the rapid expansion of Indias UAV ecosystem. The market is projected to grow from approximately US$ 1.2 billion in 2025 to around US$ 3.2 billion by 2030, supported by initiatives such as Drone Shakti, Production Linked Incentive schemes and continued defence modernisation. This creates opportunities for L&T to engage with emerging technology companies, evaluate innovative solutions early and accelerate deployment across its businesses.
Partnerships and Ecosystem Engagement
Through L&T Manthan, L&T is engaging with the startup ecosystem to identify technologies that can address business, operational and strategic priorities across the Group.
Several Memoranda of Understanding were signed during the Drone Demo Day to explore future collaboration with startups and technology partners.
While L&T does not intend to manufacture complete drone platforms, its Precision Engineering and Systems and Electronic Products and Systems businesses are evaluating opportunities in component manufacturing and adjacent technologies that can strengthen Indias indigenous unmanned systems ecosystem.
Product Portfolio
Vedh Mk1: Vedh Mk1 is a high-altitude hybrid VTOL, runway-independent remotely piloted aircraft system designed to launch and recover from confined and unprepared sites, including forward areas, high-altitude terrain, and temporary operating bases.
An electro-optical and infrared payload integrated with a laser range finder enables day and night intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, while also supporting artillery observation and fire correction. The platform is delivered as a complete operational system comprising the air vehicle, a containerized ground control station, command and data link, payload control and exploitation systems, ground support equipment, transport modules and maintenance infrastructure.
Chanakya: Chanakya is a Collaborative Mission Autonomy Framework that enables heterogeneous swarms of unmanned aerial, ground, surface and underwater platforms to plan, allocate, execute and adapt missions collaboratively through decentralized onboard intelligence.
The framework incorporates bio-inspired flocking algorithms for formation management and collision avoidance, a mission autonomy layer that dynamically creates, reallocates and reassigns tasks in real time, and embedded video analytics that combine target detection and tracking information from multiple platforms into a unified operational picture.
The system has progressed from hardware-in-the-loop simulation to live flight demonstrations with quadcopters and fixed-wing UAVs and is currently undergoing field validation of its mission autonomy and video analytics capabilities under complex operational scenarios.
