19 hours Ago By Rajat Pandit
NEW DELHI: The Army is chalking out a long-term roadmap to expand its fleet of heavy-duty drones for ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) as well as precision-strike missions, with their sheer operational utility being reinforced by Russia-Ukraine and Armenia-Azerbaijan conflicts amid the ongoing shift towards unmanned and autonomous technologies in modern warfare. Budget 2025 Updates New vs old income tax regime after Budget 2025: Post income tax slab changes, which tax regime is better for salaried middle class taxpayers? Latest income tax slabs FY 2025-26 Income Tax Slabs Budget 2025 Live Updates: No income tax up to Rs 12 lakh income The force is basically looking at unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely-piloted aircraft (RPA) systems that can operate at ranges beyond 1,000-km for long-range strategic ISR missions, fly at altitudes over 30,000-feet to evade detection, and have an endurance of over 24 hours at a stretch, top sources told TOI on Thursday. Videos 03:48 Budget 2025 Cheaper & Costlier: Mobile Phones, EV Batteries, Leather Items & Medicines 15 hours ago 01:15:00 Budget 2025 Highlights: Major Tax Changes, FDI Raised To 100% In Insurance | FM's Full Speech 15 hours ago 05:39 Big Budget 2025 Bonanza For Middle Class; New Bill & Slabs, No Tax Till ₹12 Lakh Income | Watch 17 hours ago 03:03 Budget 2025: FM Nirmala Bolsters India's Nuclear Energy Sector; 5 Reactors In Just 8 Years | Watch 18 hours ago 02:20 Budget 2025: FM Nirmala's Big Healthcare Announcements: Daycare Cancer Centres & More 18 hours ago 58:58 President Droupadi Murmu's Mega Address To Joint Parliament Session | Budget 2025 1 day ago 01:13 Budget Session 2025: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Tables Economic Survey | Watch 1 day ago 12:02 Budget Session 2025: PM Narendra Modi Takes A Dig At ‘Shararati’ Opposition 1 day ago 03:21 'Don't Give Me Gyaan': Blistering Faceoff Between Akhilesh Yadav & Anurag Thakur In Lok Sabha 186 days ago 06:57 Rahul Gandhi Vs Om Birla: Five Big Moments Of Fiery Faceoff & Jibes | Watch 186 days ago 1 2 3 4 5 6 As per estimates, China has well over 2,000 top-notch UAVs, which includes combat drones like Cai Hong-4, CH-5, CH-7, Wing Loong-II and the stealthy Hongdu GJ-11 'Sharp Sword'.
China is also the world's largest exporter of military UAVs , and has stepped up supply of the armed CH-4 and Wing Loong-II drones to Pakistan, which in turn has around 150-200 drones, including Turkish Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci drones. Indian Army, in contrast, has only around 50 Israeli-origin Heron Mark-I and Mark-II as well as Searcher-II medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) drones. Amid the military standoff with China, the force inducted four new satcom-enabled Heron Mark-II drones to boost surveillance along the Line of Actual Control.
While IAF and Navy have their own UAV fleets, there is an overall requirement of at least 150 new MALE drones for the three Services. Towards this end, Army is focusing on indigenous development of MALE drones by DRDO as well as private sector companies, including through collaboration with friendly countries. DRDO has developed Rustom series of UAVs, including Tapas-BH-201 drone but it failed to fully meet operational military requirements, as was first reported by TOI.
"Efforts are now underway to enhance the capabilities of Tapas," a source said. The first flight of Archer-NG, a weaponised MALE drone developed by DRDO, in turn, is expected soon. In the arena of much more capable high-altitude, long endurance (HALE) drones, the armed forces of course will get 31 armed MQ-9B 'Predators' under Rs 32,350 crore contract inked with the US last Oct.
The delivery of these drones will begin in 2029. Get real-time updates on Budget 2025 and Income Tax Slabs on Times of India . Check out the latest income tax slabs FY 2025-26 .
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