National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL)

CSIR aerospace lab — SARAS, HANSA-3, NM5; composites for LCA/ISRO.

military-aerospaceindia-r-and-dcivil-aerospaceOperationalTier B
Country: IN
Air

Last verified:

At a Glance

Headquarters
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Type
CSIR laboratory — aerospace R&D
Founded
1959
India entity
NAL, CSIR, Bengaluru
Listed
Not applicable (government lab)
Key India role
NAL is a CSIR laboratory responsible for civilian aerospace R&D including the SARAS multi-role light transport aircraft (prototype flying), the HANSA-3 trainer (certified and in service with flying cl
indicators
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key specs
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What It Is

NAL is a CSIR laboratory responsible for civilian aerospace R&D including the SARAS multi-role light transport aircraft (prototype flying), the HANSA-3 trainer (certified and in service with flying clubs), and the NM5 light transport aircraft (in development). NAL also provides wind-tunnel and structural testing services to HAL, ADA, and ISRO. NAL's composites division has supplied composite components to the LCA Tejas programme and ISRO launch vehicles.

Sources: [1][2][3]

Deployments & Procurement

2 documented India deployment(s)/procurement(s).

AgencyContextYearQuantity / NoteSources
Indian flying clubsHANSA-3 trainer supply2000Multiple units[1][2]
ISROComposites for launch vehicles2015Series supply[1][2]

Open Questions

  • When will SARAS achieve civil certification?
  • Has NAL supplied composites for the AMCA prototype?

Import Dependencies

Not analysed in this dossier.

Sources

  1. src-01Indicative
    NAL — official site
    NAL (CSIR)·accessed 2026-08-30

    NAL official website [Domain root only; demoted to indicative per Atlas source-quality rule.]

  2. src-02Official
    SARAS aircraft — NAL product page
    NAL·accessed 2026-08-30

    NAL SARAS product page

  3. src-03Credible
    NAL HANSA-3 — The Hindu
    The Hindu·2000-02-15·accessed 2026-08-30

    Coverage of HANSA-3 type certification

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