India's Current & Future UAVs & UCAVs

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Rustom-II/TAPAS at the DRDO Challakere drone testing facility in Chitradurga, Karnataka.

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Spitfire9

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Regarding drones, does this suggest they may be of limited use in the future?


An aircraft may be able to shoot down dozens of drones in the not so distant future. Try that with 8 or 10 or 12 hardpoints on your fighter...

And how many millions of dollars would it cost to down all those drones? Roundabout zero, I guess.
 
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WolfPack86

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WORKING TO DEVELOP DRONE TECH IN LIGHT OF RECENT EVENTS, DRDO ON IT, CDS RAWAT SAYS
The CDS also warned that drones and swarms being used in warfare would be witnessed in large numbers in the future


India has to start preparing for the future generation of warfare, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said on Monday, days after a drone, in a first-of-its-kind strike, dropped two bombs at Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Jammu.

Speaking on the need for acquiring anti-drone technology in an exclusive interview, Gen Rawat said drones, swarms and other such elements “change the very nature and character of warfare". He said the Indian Army is “quite concerned" and has been working on countering drone technology.

“The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has made some success and has demonstrated their capability to counter drones," he said.

While the Indian Armed Forces is working in an integrated manner to counter drones, the Air Force will be leading the efforts. “Army, Navy and Air Force are working in a joint and integrated manner. However, we have taken the call that Air Force should become the lead agency on coordinating all efforts on how we evolve in countering drones in the future," he said.

The CDS also warned that drones and swarms being used in warfare would be witnessed in large numbers in the future. “We have seen these capabilities in our adversaries and this is something that we are preparing for."

“With how DRDO is now progressing, along with some civilian agencies, our academicians in IITs, we are all working together to ensure that we can counter this threat at the earliest," he added.

On claims of India being late to acquiring and using drones and anti-drone technologies, Gen Rawat said India had acquired drone in large numbers. “We are also looking at acquiring a very modern sophisticated drone that is available in the world market, but at the same time, I think our drone technology is also evolving."

“It is not an easy technology because we lack the technology to build the engine of our aircraft, but I think we are moving in the right direction."

He emphasised that the IAF has been aware of drone technologies as they are the “future of warfare" now. “We must also acquire drones as combat systems. But at the same time, we also need to develop technologies for countering it. This technology is being worked upon across the world, and not everybody has this technology available."

India’s focus has been on indigenisation, and “we have partially succeeded," he said. “I’m sure this process will be hastened up, especially in the wake of the recent incident."

On the question of the technology’s evolving nature and the “surprise" factor of using such weapons, Gen Rawat said all of these technologies that use the electromagnetic spectrum need to be countered in the same manner. “One is the physical destruction of drones which is not an easy solution since they are small and not easily detected by radars. So we need to have physical surveillance of the entire space, particularly in vulnerable spaces."

Gen Rawat also emphasised it is more important to develop electronic technology to bring down these drones.
 

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Project Cheetah set to take off, India to get upgraded & armed drones from Israel


New Delhi:
After several rounds of discussions, Project Cheetah, under which India’s Heron drones are to be upgraded and armed with Israel’s help, is finally set to take off, ThePrint has learnt.


Sources in the defence and security establishment said cost negotiations for the nearly Rs 5,000 crore project involving Herons that are in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF), Army, and the Navy, has been completed and is in the last stage of decision making.


The Indian Air Force, which is the end agency for this project, is looking at a timeline within this fiscal to sign the contract, sources said.


 

WolfPack86

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Project Cheetah set to take off, India to get upgraded & armed drones from Israel
After several rounds of discussions, Project Cheetah, under which India’s Heron drones are to be upgraded and armed with Israel’s help, is finally set to take off, ThePrint has learnt.

Sources in the defence and security establishment said cost negotiations for the nearly Rs 5,000 crore project involving Herons that are in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF), Army, and the Navy, has been completed and is in the last stage of decision making.

The Indian Air Force, which is the end agency for this project, is looking at a timeline within this fiscal to sign the contract, sources said. Under the project, the Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Israeli Herons, used by all three Services, will be upgraded.

This upgrade will include enabling the Herons with the capability of satellite navigation and specialised sensors.
But the icing on the cake is the plan to arm them. Under the contract, the Israelis will upgrade the Herons with the ability to not only undertake more specialised and longer surveillance missions but also precision strikes.

The Herons will have the capability to carry and launch air-to-ground precision missiles, sources said. The development comes at a time when the Indian defence forces have also decided to jointly procure 30 High Altitude Long Endurance armed drones, MQ-9B, from the US.


Sources explained that both systems are different in capability and use. Hence, there is no overlap.
 

WolfPack86

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India seeks clarity from US on price, technology transfer before finalising $3-billion Predator drone deal
India has sought “more clarity” from the United States about the armed MQ-9B Predator drones before finalising the deal, media reports have said.

India plans to buy 30 armed drones, which are designed for long-range precision strikes against hostile targets on land and sea, from the US.


New Delhi has now sought to know more about the price fixation, maintenance and transfer of technology in the proposed $3 billion (around Rs 22,000 crore) deal to acquire these drones, The Times of India cited sources as saying.

According to the report, the procurement project would be moved for “acceptance of necessity (AoN)” by defence minister Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) once it gets the information from the US government.

The Indian government finalised the plan to acquire these 30 drones, also known as SeaGuardian or SkyGuardian remotely-piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) to strengthen its long-range unmanned lethal capabilities. The army, navy and Indian Air Force (IAF) are to get 10 drones each, with different payloads to hunt and destroy targets over land and sea, the report saidt.

However, the high cost has delayed the signing of the final contract, the report said. It will be a government-to-government deal through the US foreign military sales (FMS).

“Due to the high procurement cost for the 30 armed drones, the defence ministry wants better insight into the deal under the FMS, which is slightly opaque,” the report quoting a source as saying.

That is why the defence ministry had asked for some more details on the exact costing, the repair and maintenance facilities that would be set up in India and the technology transfer it would entail, the source told the publication.

Once the project gets the AoN from the DAC, India will issue an actionable LoR (letter of request) to the US government, the report said. The final contract would be signed after the US responds with a letter of offer and acceptance and notifies US Congress, the report added.
 
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