Army asks industry to develop drones to carry heavy loads to high-altitude areas

The Indian Army has approached the industry for finalising the technical specifications and functional parameters for logistics drones, and undertaking subsequent production indigenously, which can be employed for carrying heavy loads at medium and high altitudes.

The Army’s requirement is for high-altitude drones that can ferry 40 kg-odd payload to altitudes of up to 16,500 feet and medium altitude drones that can transport 60 kg load to heights up to about 10,000 feet.

Both types of drones would be used to provide “operational logistic surge to forward posts” as per operational requirements in mountainous terrain as occurring along the northern borders in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, according to two requests for information (RFI) issued by the Army on March 20.

For high-altitude areas, the operating temperature range specifications are minus 35 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius, while for the medium altitude, it is minus 20 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius.

The required mission radius for both the categories is at least 10 km with a minimum flying endurance of 60 minutes, along with compatibility with multiple satellite-based navigation networks, video camera and thermal sensors. These should be operational by day and night and in commonly encountered weather conditions in India.

The RFIs also state that the drones and their accessories should be modular in design, thereby lending themselves to future upgrades through simple modifications not leading to design or structural change. The design should also facilitate integration and installation without impacting the performance of any system or sub-system.

The Indian Army, as also the other two Services, is increasingly relying on drones for a variety of critical operational tasks such as attack, surveillance and reconnaissance, logistic support, communications and even counter-drone operations.

Drones, while being cost-effective, are also force multipliers, and also reduce the risk to human life. Several types of drones are being used by the Armed Forces to meet different requirements. While some have been sources from foreign suppliers, others have been developed indigenously. Several programmes to develop unmanned aerial vehicles and loiter munitions are also under way in India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation as well as the industry.