In view of the present volatile situation at the northern borders, the Indian Army has come out with advertisements for at least 750 specialized drones. These should be able to provide 3D imagery of the terrain “of interest” to launch operations, the ad says.
The Ministry of Defence on Tuesday came out with the request for proposal (RFP) for such UAVs. These will be processed as per a fast-track procedure under “emergency procurement.”
RFP is a part of the tendering process seeking commercial and technical bids from manufacturers. At least 750 such drones are needed. “The current volatile situation along the northern borders warrants expeditious procurement of operational equipment,” the proposal paper said.
The desired UAVs must be able to provide round-the-clock surveillance with technical features to scan the target area and provide processed 3D scanned images to execute special missions, the RFP document described. Army sources said the MoD wants to keep out any Chinese parts and the vendor must provide NATO stock number (NSN) for each item provided by a foreign manufacturer.
“This equipment will be used for area awareness and short-distance surveillance, so that our special forces can execute pin-point precision strikes during direct action tasks,” sources said.
The UAV should be about two kilograms in weight and be capable of being operated by one person alone. It needs to have an endurance of 30 minutes and should be able to work indoors and in GPS-denied areas.
