Honeywell Aerospace has signed a licensing agreement with Tata Power’s Strategic Engineering Division (SED), enabling it to produce Honeywell’s Tactical Advanced Land Inertial Navigator, or TALIN, in India.

This Honeywell-patented technology enables vehicles and artillery to navigate very precisely, even where GPS satellite guidance is not available, to increase troop safety and maximise mission success.

“Our strategic agreement with Honeywell supports Tata Power’s SED commitment to the ‘Make in India’ initiative – a priority for India’s new government,” said Rahul Chaudhry, CEO, Tata Power SED. “We are proud to have completed this technology sharing arrangement, which will offer the Indian armed forces a state-of-the-art inertial navigation technology, made in India and with local product support. This agreement sets the standard for locally produced defence technologies to sustain India’s military growth and mission success over the coming years.”

Aligning with the Indian Government’s objective of organically growing its defence industry and the call for ‘Make in India’, Honeywell will licence the design, hardware and expertise to assemble, test and, in the future, build the production kits for TALIN to Tata Power SED. It will mark the first time India has produced inertial land navigation technology, providing the Indian armed forces with a locally constructed advanced land navigation technology that is not limited by a reliance upon GPS – an important benefit for vehicles and artillery operating across the country’s mountain, desert and forest terrain where satellite signals can be limited.

“TALIN represents the latest in GPS-free navigation and positioning technology, designed to improve asset safety and ultimately mission success,” said Arijit Ghosh, President, Honeywell Aerospace India. “By partnering with Tata Power SED on the production of TALIN we are aligning with the government’s aim of increasing locally manufactured technologies for India’s defence industry and giving the Indian armed forces an easy-to-justify option for navigation on the 21st century battlefield.”