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| DRDO Rustom (Image: Wikipedia) |
By Vivek Raghuvanshi
NEW DELHI — Indian defense forces have finalized a blueprint to procure more than 5,000 UAVs over the next 10 years for about US $3 billion, and tenders will be restricted to domestic companies that can tie up with foreign firms, said a Ministry of Defence source.
Lack of industrial expertise, combined with delays and cost overruns, have stymied past efforts to develop and produce indigenous UAVs for tactical requirements. These efforts also were limited to state-owned companies.
"In the future, the private sector will be involved in a big way to meet all future requirements of UAVs," said an MoD official.
In the next three to five years, the Indian Army proposes to equip UAVs down to the battalion level, while the Air Force plans to have fully operational squadrons of surveillance UAVs and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV).
The plan includes the induction of many man-portable mini and micro UAVs for short-range surveillance, and nuclear, biological, chemical detection in the battlefield.
The Indian Army, Air Force and Navy propose to buy tactical UAVs, high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAVs, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAVs, and medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAVs.
A Navy official said the demand for MALE and tactical UAVs could rise.
Read the full story at DefenseNews