Vivek Lall quits Reliance for General Atomics

Dr Vivek Lall has moved on from the Reliance Industries Limited defense and homeland security venture and joined the US defense aviation company, General Atomics.

General Atomics is the manufacturer of some of the most formidable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) fielded by the US in its wars since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, which include the MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper.

Lall was earlier with Boeing Defense, Space and Security and steered the sale of aircraft and systems like the C-17 Globemaster III for the Indian Air Force (IAF), the P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft for the Indian Navy and Harpoon missiles for the IAF Jaguars as well as the navy P-8I aircraft.

He joined Reliance in April 2011 and is now CEO of Strategic Development at General Atomics for the global market.

While the UAV systems of General Atomics are not currently licensed for export to India, it is understood that Lall will be promoting a line-up of commercial products, besides the EMALS system being developed by the company.

General Atomics has been in India for around two years pitching its Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), an electromagnetic catapult system which it is developing to launch aircraft from carriers in place of the older steam catapults.

The Indian Navy currently has on order the IAC-1, to be named the INS Vikrant, which is a STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) carrier. It is planning a second carrier, IAC-2, which is expected to be much larger.