LAT Aerospace Acquires Sharang Shakti to Build Indigenous Defence Tech; Deepinder Goyal Expands Dual-Use Aviation Strategy

New Delhi, February 24: LAT Aerospace, founded by Deepinder Goyal and former Zomato COO Surobhi Das, has acquired Gurugram-based defence robotics startup Sharang Shakti, marking its formal entry into indigenous defence capability development.

The acquisition is aimed at building shared in-house technology across sensing, autonomy, navigation, guidance, and control systems, which the company intends to deploy across both defence and civilian aviation platforms over time.

First Strategic Move Into Defence​

Announcing the development on X, Goyal described the acquisition as LAT Aerospace’s first concrete step toward developing indigenous defence capabilities alongside its longer-term civil aviation ambitions.

“LAT Aerospace has acquired Sharang Shakti, an early-stage defence robotics startup based in Gurgaon. 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 stated.

Goyal emphasized that while civil aviation and defence are often viewed as distinct sectors, they share a common technological backbone across:

• Autonomy
• Perception systems
• Sensing technologies
• Navigation and guidance
• Control systems

By integrating Sharang Shakti, LAT Aerospace intends to build these capabilities internally from first principles rather than relying on external suppliers.

Focus on Dual-Use Technology Stack​

The strategy signals a dual-use technology approach, where foundational systems developed for defence robotics can be adapted for next-generation aviation platforms.

“By bringing Sharang Shakti into LAT, we are building these capabilities in-house, from first principles, with the intent to deploy them across both defence and civil programs over time. Gradually but surely,” Goyal added.

The move reflects a long-horizon research and engineering strategy rather than a near-term commercial pivot.

Background: Goyal’s Exit from Eternal​

Goyal resigned last month as Managing Director and Group CEO of Eternal, the parent entity of Zomato and Blinkit, to pursue what he described as “new ideas that involve significantly higher-risk exploration and experimentation.”

He continues to serve as Vice Chairman of Eternal.

LAT Aerospace’s Core Vision: STOL Aircraft​

Founded in January 2025 by Goyal and Das, LAT Aerospace is building a new generation of Short Take-Off and Landing aircraft engineered to operate from compact air-stops instead of traditional airport infrastructure.


The focus on STOL platforms suggests an emphasis on:

• Distributed air mobility
• Reduced infrastructure dependency
• Access to remote or underserved regions
• Flexible runway requirements

The integration of defence-grade autonomy and navigation capabilities could strengthen the technological foundation of these aviation platforms over time.

Strategic Implications​

The acquisition positions LAT Aerospace at the intersection of:

• Indigenous defence robotics
• Advanced autonomy systems
• Next-generation civil aviation platforms
• Dual-use aerospace technologies

While the company remains in early-stage development, the move reflects an attempt to create a vertically integrated technology stack that can serve both strategic defence programs and emerging civil aviation applications.

With this acquisition, LAT Aerospace has signaled that its ambitions extend beyond aircraft manufacturing into core aerospace intelligence and control systems, potentially reshaping how dual-use aviation technologies are developed from India.