Innovative Skies: IIT Delhi and IAF's Textile Technology Collaboration

IIT Delhi partners with HQ Maintenance Command, Indian Air Force, to advance aviation textile technologies, focusing on parachutes and safety equipment. The collaboration aims to enhance research, promote self-reliance, and foster innovation in technical textiles using AI, robotics, and modern testing standards for improved safety and design.

IIT Delhi has partnered with the Headquarters Maintenance Command of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Nagpur to advance the development of innovative technologies in aviation textiles, primarily focusing on parachutes and safety equipment.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and HQ Maintenance Command aim to drive research and development, targeting obsolescence management, self-reliance, and digitisation in aviation-grade textiles through indigenisation efforts.

Group Captain Prashant Pathak highlighted collaboration areas such as the selection of raw materials for parachutes and safety gear. Technologies like AI and robotics for quality checks and machine learning-based imaging for product reliability are part of the strategic focus. Associate Dean Rajendra Singh from IIT Delhi underscored the partnership's potential to meet the Indian defence sector's growing demand for indigenisation.

(With inputs from agencies.)