The nine Licensing Agreements for Transfer of Technology, or LAToTs, are intended to enable commercial production of technologies developed by DRDO. The move forms part of a larger effort to shorten the transition from indigenous research and development to industrial production and eventual deployment by the armed forces.
Developed by DRDO’s Defence Laboratory, Jodhpur, the Low Cost Plug-n-Play Thermal Target System, or LC-TTS, has been placed under DRDO’s Transfer of Technology programme. The technology was published for industry participation on September 10, 2026, with two licences currently available.
Inbound Aerospace is a Chennai-based company incubated at the IIT Madras Incubation Cell. IIT Madras Research Park describes the company as developing an autonomous reusable re-entry spacecraft and spaceplane platform for repeatable microgravity and orbital payload-return missions.
The technology has reached Technology Readiness Level 3, meaning the underlying concept has been demonstrated experimentally but remains well short of a production-ready aircraft system. IIT Madras has nevertheless moved the invention into its technology-transfer portfolio and is offering it for licensing, indicating that the research is now being positioned for possible industrial development.
The two SWiFT-K prototypes have reportedly completed High-Speed Taxi Trials at the Aeronautical Test Range at Challakere. These trials are an important step before flight testing because they allow engineers to examine acceleration, braking, steering, ground stability, structural behaviour and flight-control responses as the aircraft approaches take-off speed.
The significance of the programme lies not simply in producing another artillery system. A mature electromagnetic gun could eventually occupy the space between conventional long-range artillery and expensive guided missiles, delivering high-velocity kinetic projectiles over considerable distances without depending upon the large chemical propellant charges required by traditional guns.
TiHAN and the Andhra Pradesh Drones Corporation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which the IIT Hyderabad hub will serve as a technical and knowledge partner for the Drone City and the wider drone ecosystem being developed in the state.
India’s armed forces are therefore currently using NavIC in conjunction with other global navigation satellite systems. The government has said that the multi-constellation approach prevents existing users from being left without navigation capability while NavIC’s orbital infrastructure is strengthened.
Recent defence reporting in September 2026 says engineering changes to the LUH have produced an approximately 30–40% reduction in overall vibration response, while vibration in a critical vertical range has reportedly fallen by nearly 50%.
Operating much higher than conventional aircraft but lower than satellites allows such a platform to combine some characteristics of both. It can continuously observe an area or act as a communications relay while remaining recoverable and reusable.
