Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 2 (ANI): Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Tuesday visited Tata Advanced Systems Ltd's (TASL) upcoming Defence Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility near Bengaluru Airport, which is set to become India's first private-sector defence MRO centre for the Lockheed Martin C-130J transport aircraft.

According to the statement released by Tata Sons, the facility is being developed by TASL over 16 acres of land and will span 15,000 square metres. It is scheduled to be commissioned by December 2026.

'TASL is setting up India's first private defence MRO facility here, spanning 15,000 square metres on 16 acres of land. The facility is slated for commissioning by end-December 2026 and will conduct heavy maintenance and avionics upgrades for the Lockheed Martin C130J transport aircraft employing over 250 personnel,' the statement said.

Chandrasekaran was accompanied by Sukaran Singh, Managing Director of Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, and other senior management officials during the visit.

The Tata Sons Chairman also visited TASL's Electronic City facility, where he reviewed the company's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturing operations, optronics product lines and land mobility platforms.

According to the statement, Chandrasekaran was briefed on TASL's indigenous loitering munitions platform, which now features 'operational ranges extending from 50 km to hundreds of Km and heavier payload capabilities.'

The company said the visit also included a review of TASL's land mobility business, which has supplied more than 4,000 multi-axle high-mobility platforms to international customers over the past three years.

'The Land Mobility Division has internationalized the footprint, extended the reach and supplied over 4000 such multi axle high mobility platforms with applications to Royal Moroccan Army and Armenian Armed Forces in last three years,' the statement said.

During the visit, Chandrasekaran also reviewed the Advanced Armoured Platform developed jointly with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), as well as military applications built on Jaguar Land Rover Defender vehicles through integration of armouring, navigation systems and optronics.

At TASL's Vemagal facility, Chandrasekaran inspected the Tata Advanced Systems-Airbus H125 Final Assembly Line, dedicated to the India H125 helicopter programme.

He also reviewed defence manufacturing operations at the facility, including the C295 wiring harness programme, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), Mounted Gun Systems (MGS) and launcher system integration facilities.

'The visit reinforced Tata Group's strategic focus in defence business with TASL which is leveraging indigenous innovation, advanced engineering, and industrial scale to contribute meaningfully to national security objectives,' the company said. (ANI)