Pune defence company’s human carrying drone to be inducted in Indian Navy

PUNE: A Chakan-based defence company has manufactured a heavy-lift utility drone that can carry a human being named ‘Varuna’ which will soon be inducted in the Indian Navy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shown a demo of the ‘Varuna’ personal air vehicle, an autonomous multi-copter drone capable of carrying the passenger.

Varuna has been designed and manufactured by Chakan-based Sagar Defence Engineering Private Limited (SDE). Its manufacturers claim that the heavy-duty drone can move goods including equipment, liquids and even human beings with a standardised payload attachment. The drone can be remotely controlled or flown automatically along predetermined routes. It can hold a range of payloads in the area between its landing gear because of the widely used, standardised rail attachment mechanism in logistics and aerospace. The drone has the capability to carry payloads up to 130kg, and can cover 25 km in just 30 minutes.

Capt. Nikunj Parashar, founder, SDE, along with…