Rangsons Aerospace signed a Memorandum of Understanding with HENSOLDT at Aero India 2023

Rangsons Aerospace and HENSOLDT have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly explore new business opportunities, support newer technological advancements, and help improve technological expertise in the domain in step with the goals of the Government’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign.

Rangsons Aerospace, belongs to conglomerate NR Group that has a diverse business portfolio. Rangsons Aerospace on 14th February 2023 at Asia’s biggest military Aero Show 2023 signed MoU with German company. The MoU was signed between Mr. Pavan Ranga, Managing Director, Rangsons Aerospace, and Mr. Jonathan Field, VP International Business Development, HENSOLDT.

The MoU is aimed at developing an indigenous datalink system which can work across various airborne platforms thus enhancing network centric warfare capability of the Indian Armed Forces.

Commenting on the landmark signing, Mr. Ranga said, “We are excited to embark on this new journey with HENSOLDT. The support form HENSOLDT will guide us in manufacturing world-class aviation products in India and the technical knowledge will inspire us to create some equipment for aircraft in India. With this partnership, we will be manufacturing the units for rotary, fixed wing and unmanned Aerial Vehicles.”

Mr. Andleeb Shadman, MD, HENSOLDT India said, “HENSOLDT is optimistic and dedicated to supporting the Indian government’s vision of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” in the Indian defence sector. Our business plans are built on Transfer of Technology, Local Production and Joint development based Industrial collaborations. Through this collaboration, we are collaborating to build a world class datalink solution that can work across a large cross section of airborne platforms.

Rangsons, a 26-year-old Mysore-based company, specialises in Proof of Concept, prototyping, product development, and platform integration services in the aerospace, defence and homeland security domains. Over the years, Rangsons has developed superior technology and high-quality products for strategically catering to India’s defence needs, making the country self-reliant in this sphere. Credited with the distinction of being the first company to manufacture any Airborne Compact Heat Exchanger or the world’s smallest SOTM (Satcom On The Move) terminal, the products and services designed in-house by Rangsons are on a par with global offerings, meeting the international standards of quality.

The product portfolio being featured at Aero India 2023 will showcase Rangsons’ expertise in thermal management solutions, tactical communication solutions, SOTM (Satcom on the move) solutions, Avionics and Avionics Tubes and Hoses.

This edition of  Aero India 2023 is featuring the following key product displays by Rangsons amongst others:

  • Thermal Management Solutions:

Air to Air Heat Exchanger (Compact Heat Exchanger for Rotary wing Airconditioning Pack) – Rangsons has indigenously designed, developed, and qualified Air-to-Air compact Heat Exchanger for Rotary wing Platform.

POD cooling system – The ACM Module houses an Air Cycle machine (ACM) of 3.5 KW capacity which is driven by the ram air. The ram air enters the turbine through the inlet scoop. The turbine expands the ram air and cools the same. This cold air is used to cool the hot coolant by passing it through an Air-to-Liquid Heat Exchanger (ALHE). The hot air exiting the heat exchanger is ducted to the compressor which increases its pressure and vents out the hot air to the atmosphere. A ram air temperature sensor is placed in the inlet scoop to measure the inlet temperature and a regulator valve is placed at the inlet of the turbine to regulate / isolate the flow to the turbine. A temperature sensor is provided at the turbine outlet to measure the turbine outlet temperature.

Airborne Compact Heat Exchangers – Rangsons is offering the most compact and lightweight aluminium/SS heat exchangers. The trade-off for this exchanger is through the engineering of fin geometry and fin density, which improves the performance of the heat exchanger. The company optimizes the thermal management system performance to assure that its designs meets or exceeds customer application requirement. Rangsons designs and builds compact plate-fin, flat-tube and shell & tube heat exchangers. The thermal transfer will take place using coolants such as air, ethylene glycol / water (EGW), oil, PAO, fuel etc.

  • Tactical Communication Solutions:

C Band Data Link – C Band Data Link is Internet Protocol (IP) radio ideal for high data rate applications including the transmission of high definition video. The product is specifically optimised for UAV applications in terms of mass, power, volume, heat dissipation and feature set. Several radios may be networked together enabling a distributed payload/platform control and display capability, allowing system integrators to implement a flexible system architecture. The radio provides several advanced optional features such as ranging, mono-pulse tracking information and high transmission power.

Ka and Ku Band Satcom On the Move Terminal – SOTM is a small lightweight portable on-the-move satellite terminal solution. It is optimal for airborne connectivity, for compact installations, and for fully autonomous operation for transmit and receive of high bandwidth data rates of more than 20 Mbps. With its unique design, Our SOTM is the leading choice for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Its optimized form, size, and weight enables it to be deployed as an integral part of the plane. The SOTM has options for both the KA and KU bands.

  • Avionics:

Antenna Selection System for UAV – Antenna Selection System is one of the prime subsystems of UAV Data Link Unit which used to select and switch between multiple onboard directional antenna to continuously maintain line of sight communication with Ground Control Station.

On Board Computer – The Single Board Computer is PC-104 based rugged compact on-board computer which used to interface, process and control other subsystems of Nano Satellite. The SBC design is based on a single chip 32-bit microcontroller with an ARM Cortex-M7 core operating upto 300MHz frequency. The microcontroller has inbuilt 2MB Flash, 384KB Volatile Memory, Cache memory, Timers, Interrupts, Watch Dog Timers and Clock disable logics. It has external interfaces like SPI, I2C, UART, PWM, Analog Channels and Digital IO Channels to communicate with various subsystems of Nano Satellite. This SBC also features a FPGA as add on board to have additional IO resources. It has 8GB SD card for payload data storage. The SBC will be powered by 3.3V & 5V inputs from Nano Satellite Bus and have overcurrent protection for system isolation in case of component failure.

Rangsons Aerospace holds an industrial license by MOD/Standing committee on private participation in defence equipment. The company also has several certifications to its credit including Global OEM, DPSU Performance and CEMILAC certificate.