While questions have been raised over indigenisation and ‘Make-in-India’ for the proposed drones, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar highlighted that 21 aircraft are going to be assembled here which will provide opportunities for smaller companies, MSMEs and startups.
Further, on the capabilities of the proposed Predator drone deal with the US, Admiral R Hari Kumar on Wednesday said the drone has got long endurance and can stay in the air for 33 hours.
In an interview with ANI on the capabilities of these drones, the Navy Chief said that the drones can help in keeping a large area under surveillance beyond 2500 nautical miles.
Navy Chief explained that the Indian armed forces has operated these drones on lease for over 12,000 hours to keep an eye on adversaries.
India leased two predator drones from US based General Atomics for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in maritime areas.
“Indian Navy has been operating these drones. They fall in the category of the HALE (high-altitude and long endurance drones). So, we realised there is a need for having these drones for better surveillance and increased maritime domain awareness,” Kumar said.
He further added, “So we had taken two of these on lease from November 2020 onwards. And since then we have been operating it.”
The navy chief outlined the vast operational maritime geography of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
He said to guard the Indian Ocean region, one has to go 2500 to 3000 miles for various requirements like knowing who is operating in these waters, why are they there and what are they doing there.
“There is a possibility of using these drones for detecting, tracking and targeting also,” he added.
The navy chief explained that the drone helps to know who all are operating in the area of interest of the Indian Navy.
He said, “The Predator unmanned system, has got long endurance, almost 33 hours. It can stay in the air and it can reach the far reaches of the ocean and areas that you want to keep under constant surveillance, which is not really possible by a satellite”.
While questions have been raised over indigenisation and ‘Make-in-India’ for the proposed drones, the Admiral said that right now, “We don’t have the technology for these HALE UAVs. They are in the high-end category because of their endurance and altitude, they can fly above 40,000ft and so on.”
The navy chief also highlighted the transfer of technologies which will benefit Indian defence entities. The key areas include radar processing, sensor fusion, then some of the composites that are part of the aircraft, then titanium alloy castings for the undercarriage and so many others, and payloads integration of the weapons.
As per the contract, 21 aircraft are going to be assembled here which will provide opportunities for smaller companies, MSMEs and startups.
As per the announcement, GE also plans to set up an MRO (Maintenance repair and overhaul) which includes the engine components for repairs and overhaul.
“It will generate an entire ecosystem and facilitate the transformation of India into a global, say, unmanned aerial system hub for innovation like it was envisioned by our honourable Prime Minister,” he stated.
In fact, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is also developing TAPAS 201 Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV which has recently achieved a flight test lasting 18 hours at Aeronautical Test Range. The technology transfer through the Predator might add impetus to the indigenous program.
The Predator drone is equipped with a laser, synthetic aperture radar, COMINT (Communication Intelligence) and ELINT (Electronic Intelligence.