Raghava Aerospace and Defence Pvt Ltd (RADPL), a technology and manufacturing company based in Hyderabad, has announced the formation of a joint venture with Peridot Advanced Materials to implement the MALE-300 program. This project involves creating a fully indigenous Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle.
The indigenous MALE-300 UAV is designed for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) tasks. It features a modular payload weighing 300 kg, capable of flying for 30 hours, and has an operational altitude of up to 30,000 feet, with its entire design belonging to India.
Earlier this week, G. Satish Reddy, former Secretary of the Department of Defence Research and Development and former Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), now President of the Aeronautical Society of India, inaugurated RADPL in Kokapet, Hyderabad.
Reddy noted that India's defence manufacturing ecosystem has reached maturity. He emphasized that partners across the country are currently producing missiles, bombs, and weapons, with the private sector accounting for about 40 percent of these partners.
Furthermore, he stated that the government has allocated 1.39 trillion rupees from the defence budget for domestic production under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, which he views as a clear signal of opportunities for Indian industry.
Reddy also observed that India has transformed from an importer to an exporter of defence equipment, citing the demonstration of three Indian weapon systems to Armenia during the Republic Day parade as a source of pride for the country's defence industry.
Congratulating the RADPL management and wishing the company success, Reddy advised the team not to limit itself only to the domestic market but to target exports as well. He stated: 'Focus not only on domestic production but also on exports.'
RADPL is an Indian company specializing in the design and manufacturing of electronic systems that serve programs in the aerospace, defence, and security sectors domestically. The company operates in three areas: research and development, design and manufacturing of electronic systems, and composite structures.
The facilities in Hyderabad include a Class 1 cleanroom spanning one lakh square feet, infrastructure for testing Radio Frequency (RF) and microwave systems up to 40 GHz, assembly and integration laboratories with Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) control, and a full composites production line, including filament winding, autoclave, CNC large-format tape winding, industrial oven, hydraulic press, prepreg, as well as radiographic and ultrasonic testing.
The team combines over 200 man-years of engineering experience across more than 10 active defence programs. The company has expanded through five strategic acquisitions: DTS, specializing in electronic warfare and broadband RF systems; HQPPL, focused on RF systems for missiles and telemetry; Signalinx Techsystems, working on FPGA-based embedded systems and power electronics; Rainbow Advanced Composites, manufacturing ablative and FRP components for missiles; and Aerospace Advanced Composites, specializing in large composite structures and thermal protection.
These enterprises have been integrated into a unified platform for design, qualification, and manufacturing. Likhit Reddy Ponguleti, Managing Director of RADPL, noted: 'Reddy's message is our roadmap: to take proven indigenous capabilities in RF, telemetry, embedded systems, and composites, scale them for production that our defence programs can rely on, and bring them to export markets.'
RADPL designs, develops, and manufactures critical RF and microwave systems, electronic warfare products, onboard electronics, embedded and power electronic systems, as well as aerospace composite structures for vital defence and security programs in the country.