LAT Aerospace acquires Sharang Shakti to build indigenous defence. The deal signals LAT's intent to strengthen core aerospace systems through in-house development. FEBRUARY 24, 2026, 8:59 PM Key Takeaways What actually matters. LAT Aerospace acquires Sharang Shakti to enhance indigenous defence capabilities. Integrate robotics expertise into broader technology roadmap for civil aviation and defence. LAT Aerospace has acquired Sharang Shakti, an early-stage defence robotics startup based in Gurgaon. Co-Founder Deepinder Goyal, who is also the Co-Founder of Zomato, announced this on X. The acquisition marks LAT's first step towards building indigenous defence capabilities while advancing its civil aviation plans in India. Goyal said the move aligns with LAT's long-term mission to develop next-generation civil aviation platforms from India. He said the company will integrate Sharang Shakti's robotics expertise into its broader technology roadmap. The deal signals LAT's intent to strengthen core aerospace systems through in-house development. "Civil aviation and defence are often viewed as separate sectors. But the core technology stack is shared across autonomy, perception, sensing, navigation, guidance, and control systems," Goyal wrote. By acquiring Sharang Shakti, LAT Aerospace plans to build these capabilities internally. Goyal said the company will develop systems from first principles. He added that LAT aims to deploy these capabilities across defence and civil programmes over time. "This is our first move towards building indigenous defence capabilities alongside our long-term mission of developing next-generation civil aviation platforms from India," he wrote. The company also recently completed its first ultra-short take-off and landing (uSTOL) technology demonstrator in November last year. The fully electric, fixed-wing UAV was announced to be "almost ready for flight", marking the company's first significant milestone since it began building the aircraft and its flight lab in early 2025. The UAV took off from 40 metres, flew for 60 minutes, and cruised autonomously between Mumbai and Pune. The company was also told by Co-Founder Surobhi Das to be working on figuring out how to reduce weight, building their own Monte Carlo simulator, developing a ground architecture for hybrid-electric vehicles, designing physics models from scratch, and more. Associate Tech Journalist Covering deep and emerging tech: semiconductors, quantum, robotics, space tech, telecom, drones and defence. Connect via socials below or email: [email protected]

Deepinder Goyal's LAT Aerospace makes defence push with Sharang Shakti acquisition. The aviation company LAT Aerospace, funded by Deepinder Goyal, has expanded into the defence tech industry through the acquisition of Sharang Shakti, an early-stage business. Along with its long-term goal of producing a civil aircraft platform, LAT Aerospace is making its first attempt at constructing indigenous defence capabilities, according to a LinkedIn post by Goyal. It is common to think of civil aviation and defence as two distinct industries, Goyal continued. However, control, navigation, perception, sensing, and autonomy all use the same basic technology stack, he added. Sharang Shakti's ongoing operations. Karan Goyal, Chirag Singla, Gaurav Kumar, Jitendra Singh, and Rishabh Choudhary, all of whom are alumni of IIT-Delhi, established Sharang Shakti in 2023. An air defence system that counters drones is being developed by this Gurugram-based company. It asserts that it is developing hard-kill interceptors that can physically destroy rogue drones and low C-SWaP radars that can detect micro-drones. The news follows Deepinder Goyal's resignation as Group CEO of Eternal, the parent company of Zomato, which occurred more than 30 days ago. According to Goyal, he made the choice because he wants to try out some crazy new concepts that aren't suitable for a publicly traded firm like Eternal. By acquiring these capabilities, LAT Aerospace intends to develop them internally and apply them in the defence and civil aviation sectors. Goyal's exploring new ideas. For the last twelve months, Goyal has been actively involved in a number of projects, such as LAT Aerospace and Continue Research, which focuses on lifespan. Additionally, he is considering launching a wearable device startup called Temple. In 2025, Goyal and Surobhi Das established LAT Aerospace with the intention of making regional air travel in India more accessible by high-frequency, low-cost, and demand-based services. The firm, which was then running under the radar, had $20 million (about INR 174 crore) invested in it by Goyal in early 2025. Although Das is the sole founder of LAT Aerospace, Goyal is an investor and non-executive co-founder. | Quick Shots | | - Deepinder Goyal-backed LAT Aerospace has acquired Sharang Shakti to enter defence technology. - The move marks LAT Aerospace's first step toward building indigenous defence capabilities. - Goyal highlighted that civil aviation and defence share common technologies like navigation, sensing, and autonomy. - Sharang Shakti was founded in 2023 by alumni of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. - The Gurugram-based startup develops anti-drone systems, including hard-kill interceptors and low C-SWaP radars. - The acquisition follows Goyal's exit as Group CEO of Eternal Limited, formerly Zomato. | WIDGET: questionnaire | CAMPAIGN: Simple Questionnaire Must have tools for startups - recommended by startuptalky. * Convert Visitors into Leads- SeizeLead * Website Builder SquareSpace * Run your business Smoothly Systeme.io * Stock Images Shutterstock

Deepinder Goyal-backed aviation startup LAT Aerospace has acquired early-stage defence tech startup Sharang Shakti to enter the defence technology sector. Goyal described this as LAT Aerospace's first step towards building indigenous defence capabilities alongside its long-term civil aviation platform vision. Founded in 2023, Gurugram-based Sharang Shakti develops anti-drone air defence systems and featured in Inc42's November 2024 '30 Startups To Watch' list. LAT Aerospace plans to build shared technology capabilities in-house across autonomy, perception, sensing, navigation, guidance and control systems, deploying them in both defence and civil aviation sectors. Goyal noted that whilst civil aviation and defence are often viewed separately, they share core technology stacks.