Army to procure 750 hi-tech drones for precision strikes along LoC, LAC.

• The Indian Army’s special forces — the ones mandated to operate behind enemy lines — are looking for specialised drones that can provide 3D imagery of the terrain to launch operations.
• The Ministry of Defence came out with the request for proposal (RFP) for such UAVs which will be processed as per the fast-track procurement procedure under the “emergency procurement”.
• The RFP is part of the tendering process seeking commercial and technical bids from suppliers. Some 750 such drones are needed. “The current volatile situation along the northern borders warrants expeditious procurement of operational equipment,” the RFP document said.
• The Army is looking for UAVs that can provide round-the-clock surveillance with ability to scan the target area and provide a processed 3D scanned image of the target to execute special missions. The MoD wants to keep out any Chinese parts and has asked the vendor to provide NATO stock number (NSN) for each item provided by a foreign maker.
• This equipment will be deployed for situational awareness and short-range surveillance that will enable the special forces to execute pin-point precision strikes during direct action tasks.
• The Army wants the UAV to be about 2 kg in weight and be operable by one person. The UAV needs to have an endurance of 30 minutes and be able to operate indoors and in GPS-denied area.

About Drones:

• Drones or Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are aircraft with no on-board crew.
• The ‘drones’ can range from remotely piloted to fully automated, which means that it relies on a system of sensors and LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) detectors to calculate its movement. It can fly at a controlled level of height and speed for a long period of time.

New Drone Rules, 2021

• The Central Government on 25th August 2021 has promulgated liberalised ‘The Drone Rules, 2021’ replacing the erstwhile Unmanned Aircraft System Rules 2021 (“Prior Rules”), to regulate the use and operation of Drones or Unmanned Aerial System (“UAS”) in India.
• The Rules are based on the principles of “trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring” by reducing the extent of regulatory control.
• The strict requirements under the Prior Rules like certificate of conformation, certificate of maintenance, operator permits, import clearance, authorization of R&D etc., have been abolished under the Rules.