Garuda Aerospace partners with Airbus Helicopters to acquire Flexrotor drone systems
Garuda Aerospace has signed a contract with Airbus Helicopters to acquire up to 18 units of the Airbus Flexrotor UAS, marking a major step in the Indian drone company’s strategy to expand its global unmanned aerial systems (UAS) leasing and services portfolio.
The agreement will enable Garuda Aerospace to integrate the long-endurance Flexrotor systems into its global fleet and offer them to customers through both dry lease and wet lease operational models. The drones will support a wide range of civil, industrial, and parapublic missions, including infrastructure inspection, oil and gas pipeline monitoring, powerline inspection, railway and highway monitoring, disaster response, wildfire surveillance, law enforcement, and search-and-rescue operations.
Speaking on the partnership, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace, described the deal as a significant milestone in the company’s international expansion strategy.
“Our partnership with Airbus Helicopters to integrate the Flexrotor into our global leasing portfolio marks a major step in scaling our global drone services,” Jayaprakash said. “Having manufactured and sold over 5,000 drones and served more than 500 enterprise and Government clients globally, we are strengthening our product portfolio to deliver high-endurance, mission-critical unmanned solutions for demanding operations worldwide.”
Garuda Aerospace currently holds approximately 30 per cent market share in India’s agricultural drone segment and has accumulated more than one million cumulative flight hours across its operations in agriculture, defence, and industrial sectors.
According to Olivier Michalon, Executive Vice President for Global Business at Airbus Helicopters, the partnership will help expand the global deployment of the Flexrotor platform.
“We are very proud to partner with Garuda as they have selected the Flexrotor to support the development of their global UAS portfolio,” Michalon said.
The Flexrotor is a versatile light tactical unmanned aerial system designed for long-endurance missions and advanced sensor integration. With a maximum takeoff weight of about 25 kilograms (55 pounds), the platform can remain airborne for 12 to 14 hours in typical operational configurations, making it suitable for intelligence, surveillance, monitoring, and data-collection missions across large operational areas. One of the system’s key advantages is its expeditionary capability and minimal operational footprint. The drone can autonomously launch and recover from confined land areas or maritime platforms without flight decks, requiring only a 3.7-by-3.7-metre launch and recovery area. Its modular design also enables rapid deployment, allowing the system to transition from transport configuration to operational readiness in less than 30 minutes.
With the addition of the Flexrotor platform, Garuda Aerospace aims to further strengthen its global unmanned aviation ecosystem and enhance its ability to provide high-endurance aerial intelligence and mission support services to industries including energy, infrastructure, agriculture, defence, and public safety.
The partnership represents another milestone for Garuda Aerospace, one of the world’s fastest-growing drone technology companies, as it continues expanding its footprint in global drone services and advanced unmanned aviation solutions.
