Flying Whales Signs MoU with India’s Bharat Forge

The Aerospace Division of Bharat Forge has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with France-Based Flying Whales, and the goal is to produce heavy-lift airships.

A recent agreement between India’s Bharat Forge and the developmental airship company Flying Whales is a decisive step in a joint venture to develop, manufacture, and prove a working cargo airship. The Pune-based manufacturer announced on July 22 that its Aerospace Division signed a memorandum of understanding with the airship development company.

It is the third publicly announced partnership Flying Whales has announced in India since February, but this MoU is the first one to be aimed at potential military uses. The agreement comes on the heels of April’s expression of interest (EoI) from the Indian Air Force, inviting Indian industry to design and build a heavy-lift surveillance airship.

The LCA60T: An Innovative Design and an Industry First
The aircraft at the heart of the collaboration is the Large Capacity Airship 60 Tons, or LCA60T. The specifications of the airship describe a 60-metric-ton airship capable of vertical takeoff and landing, powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system, and with provision for slung loads to be carried externally. Flying Whales has been working on the LCA60T for more than a decade, and this agreement brings the company one step closer to having a prototype airborne.

Flying Whales refers to the platform as a rigid airship, meaning the lighter-than-air craft is constructed with a load-bearing framework. The helium is held in separate cells within that structure, rather than in a single pressurized envelope, and its overall volume will be somewhere in the range of 6.3 million ft³ (180,000 m³) of helium.

The heavy lift capabilities are impressive, and the Flying Whales design looks to be no lightweight in dimensions, either. With a length of 656 ft (200 m), the airship is longer than four Boeing 737-10s parked end-to-end, and its girth of 164 ft (50 m) makes it even more imposing.

Flying Whales literature states that the airship will be capable of loading and unloading at hover, allowing for the storage of cargo in a 315 ft (96 m) long hold. While India has indigenous airship and aerostat research experience, the country has not yet established a design or manufacturing base for rigid cargo airships, certainly none on the scale of the LCA60T. The emerging airship industry of India is anticipated to accelerate from the industrial connections, resources and expertise gained through partnership with an established project like Flying Whales that is already well underway.

What the Two Companies Actually Committed To
The MoU is a framework rather than a contract. Bharat Forge and Flying Whales say they will work toward creating and building the jointly branded airships in India, with the stated goal of having sovereign capability in the segment. No production site, timeline, order quantity, or investment figure has yet been disclosed.

The partnership between Flying Whales and Bharat Forge comes amidst two Government of India initiatives designed to promote Indian industry: Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and the Make in India programs. The proposed project is expected to generate high-technology employment and build out a domestic supply chain, with the potential for export opportunities.

In the announcement, vice chairman and joint managing director of Bharat Forge, Amit Kalyani, said: “Airships will redefine how nations move, supply and sustain their forces.” Kalyani described the partnership as developing sovereign capability within a new industrial ecosystem for India. The Chief Executive of Flying Whales Services, Tanguy Lestienne, oversees the group’s operating arm. He told reporters that the partners intend to “Build in India, for India, and for the world.”

Building on An Existing Aerospace Background
Bharat Forge is already a player in the aviation industry, with its Aerospace Division supplying aero-engine components, airframe structures, and landing gear subsystems. The company opened a landing gear machining facility in Pune with Liebherr-Aerospace earlier this year, and they have also developed and tested micro jet engines in the 40 to 45 kilograms-force (88 to 99 pounds of thrust) class.

For the defense industry, Bharat Forge runs several unmanned aircraft product lines, and, along with its subsidiary Kalyani Strategic Systems, produces the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS). The 155 mm howitzer was developed with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation, along with armored vehicles and ammunition. It is an extensive portfolio, but one that does not yet include lighter-than-air; Flying Whales now stands to supply that experience.

The Mission List
The joint statement lays out the applications the two companies intend to explore:

Resupply of forward operating bases
Movement of oversized equipment and critical military stores
Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)
Communication relay
Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief
Rapid deployment into remote border regions

Some of the above requests fit the proposed Flying Whales airframe better than others. Hauling bulky equipment into Himalayan valleys without a road or a strip is close to the mandate of the LCA60T, but ISR and communication relay are a different proposition for the manned cargo airship with an estimated flight ceiling of 9,843 ft (3,000 m).

The announcement does not describe what those potential airship configurations would look like, either. Their appearance on the list is notable for another reason, though: they match the request that the Indian Air Force announced three months earlier.

The Air Force Opportunities Sitting in the Background
Neither Bharat Forge nor Flying Whales mentioned the recent Indian Air Force Expression of Interest (EoI), and nothing published so far directly connects the India-France partnership. The assumption is the Indian Air Force has signaled real demand for domestically-built military airships, and, as of July, an Indian manufacturer has lined up a technology partner capable of putting them in the running.

While the Air Force’s request might be a potential motive for the partnership, there is some work to do before the Flying Whales platform could meet the EoI’s criteria. The EoI is seeking a Medium-Altitude Heavy-Lift Airship (MAHLA), but it calls for an unmanned, persistent ISR platform able to operate up to 10,000 ft (3,048 m) — with 30,000 ft (9,144 m) listed as the desired objective.

At present, the MAHLA requirement and the LCA60T are aimed at different missions: persistent surveillance versus heavy cargo transport. That means that the capabilities of the LCA60T will likely need to be expanded for the requirements of the IAF to be met.

The EoI stipulation for an unmanned airship staying aloft for 10 days at full payload (with 30 days preferred) could be a tall order for the current Flying Whales airship since its default configuration is not unmanned, but calls for a minimum crew of two: a pilot and a load-exchange officer.

Stated cargo requirements, on the other hand, look to be attainable from the start for Flying Whales, since the LCA60T easily meets the Indian Air Forces’ requested cargo handling ability: a minimum of 4,400 lb (2,000 kg), with a preferred 11,000 lb (5,000 kg) cargo capacity.

An alternative configuration of Flying Whales technology could eventually become an option, although nothing published indicates that such an aircraft is currently in development. The companies’ inclusion of ISR and communication relay indicates a possibility for military roles beyond cargo transport, but the partnership’s clearer relevance to the Indian Air Force’s MAHLA requirements is in developing the industrial capability that can someday satisfy those requirements.

In helping Flying Whales get an airship off the ground, Bharat Forge stands to gain experience in airship design, manufacturing, integration, certification, and operational expertise that future indigenous programs would require.

The Rest of the Picture
Flying Whales has already been assembling Indian relationships; during the past year, the company announced a collaboration with the logistics group Transport Corporation of India, following that with an April 2 press release regarding an agreement with Bharat Light & Power Group (BLP) to develop a final assembly line and supporting manufacturing ecosystem in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu plant is positioned as a third industrial pillar for Flying Whales alongside locations in France and Canada.

Neither Bharat Forge nor Flying Whales has disclosed any information about how the defense arrangement relates to the BLP assembly line; It is not clear whether the two would share facilities, or whether they are envisioned as separate industrial tracks.

Remaining Hurdles to Cross Before Taking Flight
The LCA60T has not yet reached flight testing stages, and Flying Whales has opted not to build a subscale technology demonstrator. It completed its Critical Design Review in April 2024, and has been targeting assembly of the first airship in early 2027. A first flight is also listed for 2027, with commercial operations starting in 2029. All of these steps are contingent on final certification and development progress, which could result in some tight timelines.

In recent months, the Canadian ties to Flying Whales has also shifted. May saw the Quebec government decline to participate in the company’s current funding round, with Economy Minister Bernard Drainville citing high financial requirements and limited direct benefits to the province, leaving the planned Sherbrooke-area assembly site in the Eastern Townships in an uncertain position.

Looking to the Skies
Heavy-lift rigid airships of this type exist only in the developmental field—so far, at least. The combination of propulsion, direct-hoisting capabilities, and externally slung cargo could pave the way for a host of other utilizations, and with its growing capacities in India, Flying Whales may be getting meaningfully to a working airship.

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