Indian UAV Procurement Programs : General Discussions
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As the Defence Ministry clears a Rs 15,000 crore programme for AS-HAPS, Snehesh Alex Philip, Editor - Defence and Diplomacy at ThePrint, speaks to Dr L Venkatakrishnan, Programme Director of HAPS to know about the key programme.
NAL's HAPS has done over 100 flights at 25K but is awaiting clearances for over 1 year to fly higher.
This kinda delays are unacceptable..
Some body should initiate action to prevent such delays
This delay is understandable. He explains at length why that is the case. It's for civilian aircraft safety.
It is impossible to do in Europe, so Airbus is doing it in Kenya.
Indian Army orders strike UAVs from Hild
Indian firm Hild Defence and Aerospace has received orders from the Indian Army for several of its domestically developed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a company...
www.janes.com
Indian firm Hild Defence and Aerospace has received orders from the Indian Army for several of its domestically developed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a company representative said.
The selected units include the company's Atlas mortar-dropped quadcopter UAV and the Talon first-person view (FPV) UAV, the representative told Janes on 22 May, during Def-Tech 2026, a defence exhibition held in Bangalore.
According to the representative, Hild delivered five contracted Atlas UAVs to an army unit deployed in northern India in late 2025.
According to Hild, Atlas development began in early 2025. The UAV can carry between two to four mortar bombs for a combined payload weight of 20 kg. It is designed to operate in high-altitude areas at a ceiling of 1,000 ft above ground level, the representative said.
He added that, with a cruising speed of 12 m/s and an endurance of 55 minutes, the UAV has a line-of-sight (LOS) range of up to 25 km. Janes understands that the company has also participated with Atlas in additional tenders issued by the army for tactical UAVs.
Hild has also won a second contract from the Indian Army to supply approximately 30 Talon kamikaze FPVs, the representative said. Janes understands that the acquisition originated from an army unit subordinate to a command-level formation. The representative said that Talon deliveries to the army are scheduled to begin in June.
According to Hild, the Talon FPV has an operational range of 10 to 20 km depending on the configuration, and is capable of carrying a munitions payload of up to 3 kg.
10 bids recieved
HAL, Adani, LnT, TASL, etc
Which companies are offering IDDM solution?
Solar, Flying wedge, and who else?
Also, any chance of them winning over Heron Mk2, MQ1Cs, or others?
Solar, Flying wedge, and who else?
Also, any chance of them winning over Heron Mk2, MQ1Cs, or others?
Personally batting for proven Heron Mk2 over any iddm or useless Hermes 900
IDDM Option : Vijayastra by Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited
Technical Specifications
The Vijayastra is built using lightweight composite materials with an efficient twin-boom, single-engine architecture:
Maximum Altitude: Up to 30,000 feet.
Flight Endurance: Exceeds 24 hours (up to 34 hours expected in optimized configurations).
Operational Range: Greater than 1,000 km.
Payload Class: Estimated in the 150 kg+ category, supporting standard multi-sensor electro-optical payloads and laser designators.
Testing Infrastructure: To support the prototype, Solar Group has constructed a dedicated 1.27 km airstrip in Nagpur
IDDM Option : MALE UAV by Raphe mPhibr Private Limited (No design revealed)
Technical SpecificationsThe MALE UAV is built using lightweight, topology-optimized carbon fiber composites with a high-aspect-ratio, straight fixed-wing architecture:
Maximum Altitude: 24,000+ feet (?)
Flight Endurance: 24 hours (?)
Operational Range: Greater than 1,000 km (optimized for over-the-horizon intelligence and maritime surveillance)
Payload Class: Estimated in the 300 kg to 450 kg+ category
Testing Infrastructure: To support the 1.5-ton prototype and its custom-built 335-horsepower engine, development and simulation are anchored at Raphe mPhibr's specialized aerospace facility in Sector 81, Noida.
Why we need these MALE category unstealthy slow moving drones ?
I mean MALE drones currently perform 2 roles:
1) ISR: a stealthy flying wing with enlarged wing for more fuel and endurance will be far far superior to these and worth the cost
2)Ground attack role: no doubt here, these drones wont survive an hour before being shot down in pakistan, china is completely different game, while a ghatak UCAV (and bigger twin engine , AMCA mk2 engine's dry variant in future) will be infinitely times better.
Only smaller FPV or smaller reconnaissance drone for tanks, artillary regiments make sense , that too VTOL for enemy spotting for tanks and artillaries.
Yeah these drones are much cheaper to operate in peace time but what's use of a weapon if it falls like dry leaves in any conflict ? If Iran can shot down 24 with full air superiority achieved by USA and all major sam system knockdown with no airforce then its foolish to use them against Pakistan.
Better to leverage economy of scale and develope like over 300 "enlongated wing SWIFT derived ISR drone" and over 300 ghatak drones.
IDK why indian armed forces dont care about economy of scale, even though we need large numbers and we also have budget (for most of the cases) for economy of scale.
HAL is with IAI
Adani is painting Elbit stuff
LnT with Americans
1 is the reason, 2 is far away last reason.
And if that option was available, IAF would have went after it.
Adani is painting Elbit stuff
LnT with Americans
1 is the reason, 2 is far away last reason.
And if that option was available, IAF would have went after it.
Irrc that's Archer-NG
Apparently the Raphe guys are making their own drone from scratch.
I personally want IDDM solution so industry grows and we can replace losses easily
US has lost almost same amount we have on order, and US replacement for MQ9 is meant to be cheaper, less capable and easily replaceable drones
So we need something like that
The tender should be closed as soon as possible. It should not be delayed so DRDO's failed arm ADE can say give us 6 more months 5 times to prove a capability.
Heron Mk2 assembly line in India would be able to do the same stuff as an Archer NG line with Solar.
The total requirement is around 150, so the purpose of this tender is to have half of them produced under license. There is no IDDM solution today. This is not a developmental contract but to acquire systems as fast as possible. Options are Heron, Hermes 900 and MQ-1C.
What about engines for these IDDM MALE UAV ???
I mean for Solar Group's Vijayastra what engine are they using and is that engine an IDDM or License manufactured here??