NEW DELHI: The Indian defence establishment is now working out a stringent mechanism to ensure that military drones being acquired from domestic private sector companies do not have Chinese components in them, even as the Army has called drone manufacturers to showcase their products in a high-altitude area in Ladakh later this month.
An “appropriate methodology”, with the requisite technical evaluation parameters, is being formulated to prevent Chinese components and electronics from finding their way into the drones.Various methods are being deliberated upon to strengthen this framework, Army Design Bureau additional director general Major General C S Mann said on Wednesday.
This urgent requirement has come to the fore after the defence ministry recently put an order for 200 medium-altitude logistics drones for the Army on hold, asking the manufacturer to prove it had not used Chinese components. The drones were primarily meant for deployment along the northern borders with China.
The MoD’s department of defence production has also asked industry bodies Ficci, CII and Assocham to “sensitise and caution” their member companies from procuring Chinese components for drones and other related equipment.
Amid the military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, which is into its fifth year now, the armed forces have gone in for the procurement of a wide array of drones. These range from nano, mini and micro drones to kamikaze, logistics, armed swarms and fighter-size MALE (medium-altitude, long-endurance) and HALE (high-altitude, long-endurance) UAVs.
Maj General Mann said the Army will host the ‘Him-Drone-A-Thon’ for domestic companies to showcase their “drone solutions for high-altitude areas” at Wari La, near Leh, on Sept 17-18.
“For drone operations, a rarefied atmosphere results in reduced lift and degraded engine performance, which are further accentuated by extreme cold temperatures and high wind speeds. These conditions are unique for the Indian Army and demand systems that can adequately perform in these conditions,” he said.