Robotics and Metrology Accelerate Indian Tejas Fighter Aircraft Production
True Position Robotics (TPR), a UK-based specialist in automated drilling and inspection systems for aerospace structures, has joined an international consortium supporting the delivery of a new robotic drilling solution for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) Tejas Mk1A fighter aircraft programme in India.
The consortium, led by ADD Engineering Components (India) Pvt. Ltd., brings together Indian, UK and German engineering expertise to develop and implement an advanced robotic system designed to significantly accelerate the manufacture of Tejas Mk1A aircraft wings while maintaining the stringent levels of accuracy and quality required for military aerospace production.
The programme addresses one of the most time-consuming operations in Tejas wing manufacture: the drilling and countersinking of thousands of holes required to assemble each wing.
Approximately 8,000 holes (3,200 in this scope) are required in each Tejas wing, meaning around 16,000 holes across a complete pair of wings. Historically, much of this work has been undertaken manually, with individual holes reportedly taking between 25 and 35 minutes to drill. This can result in the drilling operation becoming a significant bottleneck in aircraft production.
The new robotic system is being developed to perform drilling and countersinking in a highly automated sequence, incorporating surface clamping, alignment, drilling, countersinking, measurement and inspection.
HAL’s requirements include completing each hole in less than 60 seconds, achieving positional accuracy within ±0.30 mm, preventing delamination of the carbon-fibre structure, operating without liquid coolant and automatically inspecting every completed hole. The system is targeted at production of approximately 20 wing sets per year, with the potential to increase capacity as required.
Integrated Metrology for Automated Aerospace Drilling
As part of the consortium, True Position Robotics is contributing its expertise in automated aerospace drilling, inspection and precision positioning.
TPR’s technology is designed specifically for the challenges associated with drilling aerospace structures, combining lightweight robotic systems, advanced positioning technologies and offline programming to enable highly accurate and repeatable manufacturing processes.
The consortium also includes Robot-Technology GmbH of Germany, providing industrial robotics and measurement expertise, alongside specialist German tooling and aerospace expertise.
The resulting system will use a six-axis robot mounted on a mobile platform. A specialist TPR end effector will enable the system to clamp onto the aircraft structure, determine the correct position and orientation, drill and countersink the hole, measure the result and inspect for defects as part of a continuous automated process. Vision systems will assist with positioning, while integrated dust extraction will support the working environment.
Precision Positioning and In-Process Measurement
A key feature of the system is the integration of measurement directly into the manufacturing process. Rather than treating inspection as a separate downstream operation, the robotic cell is intended to establish position, execute the drilling operation and verify the resulting feature within a single automated workflow.
This approach has particular significance for aerospace structures, where hole position, diameter, countersink geometry and surface condition can directly influence assembly quality. Automated measurement also provides the potential for greater process repeatability and more consistent manufacturing data than manual inspection methods.
The requirement to achieve hole positional accuracy within ±0.30 mm places considerable emphasis on robotic positioning, fixture stability, component alignment and measurement capability. These metrology considerations are therefore integral to the performance of the complete manufacturing system.
Automated Hole Inspection and Process Verification
The ability to automatically inspect every completed hole is another important element of the system. Combining drilling with measurement and inspection allows manufacturing deviations to be identified as part of the production cycle rather than after a large batch of components has been completed.
For composite aerospace structures, inspection also needs to extend beyond basic dimensional verification. Preventing delamination and maintaining the required countersink geometry are critical to ensuring that the finished holes meet both dimensional and functional requirements.
The resulting process provides a foundation for closed-loop manufacturing in which positioning, machining, measurement and inspection are progressively integrated into a single production sequence.
Metrology-Driven Aerospace Production Capacity
The consortium represents an important example of international collaboration supporting India’s ambitions to expand advanced, indigenous aerospace manufacturing.
The Tejas Mk1A is a key programme for the Indian Air Force, with an order for 83 aircraft already placed with HAL and further demand expected. Increasing the speed and consistency of wing manufacture has the potential to help remove a significant production constraint and support faster aircraft completion.
For True Position Robotics, the programme also represents an opportunity to bring UK-developed aerospace automation technology into one of the world’s most rapidly developing aerospace and defence manufacturing markets.
“We are delighted to be part of this international consortium supporting HAL and the Tejas programme. This project is a strong demonstration of what can be achieved when specialist engineering companies combine their capabilities around a clearly defined manufacturing challenge,” comments Leigh Tricklebank from TPR.
“The scale of the requirement is significant, with thousands of holes required across every aircraft wing, but it is precisely the type of complex, high-precision manufacturing challenge that our technology has been developed to address. Our role is to bring True Position Robotics’ experience in automated drilling, inspection and precision positioning to the consortium, helping deliver a system that can increase productivity while maintaining the accuracy and repeatability expected in aerospace manufacturing. We are particularly excited about the wider opportunities this programme creates. The technology developed for Tejas has the potential to be adapted for future Indian aerospace programmes, including larger and more advanced aircraft platforms, creating a pathway for further automation across the country’s growing aerospace manufacturing ecosystem.”
From Automated Measurement to Future Aircraft Platforms
While the immediate application is the Tejas Mk1A, the robotic platform has been designed with future applications in mind. The technology could potentially be adapted for future aircraft programmes, including the Tejas Mk2 and India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), providing a scalable approach to automated drilling and inspection across increasingly complex aerospace structures.
The project therefore represents more than an opportunity to automate a single manufacturing operation. It demonstrates how advanced robotics, metrology, tooling and digital manufacturing can work together to transform high-volume aerospace production.
By replacing labour-intensive manual processes with a repeatable automated workflow, the technology has the potential to deliver:
- Significantly reduced manufacturing cycle times
- Consistent drilling and countersinking quality
- High positional accuracy and repeatability
- Automated measurement and inspection
- Reduced dependence on labour-intensive manual drilling
- Greater production capacity
- Improved manufacturing data and process control
- A scalable platform for future aircraft programmes
For True Position Robotics, participation in the consortium strengthens the company’s position as a global provider of automated aerospace manufacturing technology and marks an important step in the company’s expansion into the Indian aerospace and defence market.
For more information: www.tpr.solutions
