 |
| Image: Wiki Commons |
By Ankit Panda
India is speeding up its plans to acquire armed Israeli drones.
India is speeding up its plans to purchase unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) from Israel, according to recent reports. As The Diplomat recently reported, the Indian government approved the procurement of ten Israeli Heron TP UCAVs for the Indian Air Force in a deal valued at $400 million earlier this month. The plan to purchase armed drones from Israel was originally conceived of in 2012. The new plans to accelerate the purchase of Israeli Herons comes a few short weeks after Pakistan announced that, for the first time ever, it had used its indigenously designed Burraq drone to strike at terrorists on its own soil.
The Heron, built by Israel Aerospace Industries, is a medium-albite, long-endurance UCAV. It has a range of roughly 7,400 kilometers and a maximum continuous flight time of around 36 hours, weather permitting. The UCAV is well-suited for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, and is capable of long-range limited strikes as well. The Heron is capable of serving a 1,000 kg payload. The Indian variant will feature air-to-ground missiles. India’s primary use case for the Herons will be for high-risk cross-border covert operations against militants and insurgents. One former Indian Air Force chief, P.V. Naik, notes that “Instead of sending a pilot in a high-risk area, it is best to use an armed drone. The system can also be used for a surprise, sneak attack.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat