The defence ministry has placed an order to build fuselages of 14 unmanned air vehicles (UAV) with Bangalore-based Taneja Aerospace to augment its fleet of 35 intelligence gathering UAVs. The shadow Indo-Pak unmanned air vehicles race has come into the open following the shooting down of the Pakistani aircraft in Gujarat last week.
This is the first time the defence ministry is using a private company to build aircraft fuselages. Earlier, public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) had an exclusive sway over all defence aeronautics orders.
Sources said Taneja will build the fuselage while the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) will produce the intelligence gathering and other payloads for the sophisticated unmanned plane.
The fuselages that Taneja will build would be for a limited series prototype testing project. But these prototypes will be fully functional versions and may be tested for real intelligence gathering missions.
India had last year imported 35 UAVs from an Israeli company following reports that Pakistan was using it to penetrate Indian borders and gather details of troop movements. These UAVs have a range of about two km and can take video and still images of upto 3 km.
Pakistan reportedly possesses 20 UAVs, which it has been regularly using for border intelligence missions. Authoritative defence sources said an alarming rise in Pak UAV activity since middle of last year had prompted a special surveillance by the Indian Air Force, which has culminated in the shooting of their aircraft over Bhuj last week.
The indigenous Indian UAV, called Nishant, is in an advanced stage of development at the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO lab. Taneja Aerospace has been contracted for its limited prototype production.
The Nishant is to be displayed at the Republic Day parade as part of new defence technologies.
The Indian aircraft is driven by a low speed pusher propeller. It is launched from a hydro-pneumatic rail launcher with an endurance of over four hours and a 45 kg payload carrying capability. Its airframe is primarily made from carbon or glass fibre reinforced plastic to achieve low weight and radar signatures.
Nishant has advanced electronics providing for jam resistant digital command and downlink, with user-friendly ground control system. For landing, the UAV flies into a net and it lands on a soft air-filled balloon. The Indian tracking and shooting down of the Pak UAV has exposed a major chink in the Pakistani UAV system as these tiny planes are supposed to be radar and electronic track-resistant.
