DRDO working with CRPF to customise UAV

DRDO is working with the CRPF for customising unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Nishant for use in Maoist-affected areas, DRDO officials said here Friday.

The officials said the central paramilitary forces were already using UAVs in Maoist-affected areas and had placed demand for 16 Nishant UAVs.

They said that the Nishant, a multi-mission UAV developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defence Research and Development Organisation, had already been inducted by the army.

A DRDO official told IANS that Central Reserve Police Force wants Nishant to have conventional landing system as the existing system of recovery was through parachute and landing bags.

"We are working with CRPF to freeze the configuration," the official said, adding the modified version of Nishant was expected to come for runway trails in about a month.

DRDO officials admitted that UAVs had limitations in detecting targets in thick foliage and said they were not aware of any technology that could penetrate rain forests.

Security officials said that forces find it difficult to track Maoists using UAVs if the ultras get into thick forests after making a strike in the plains.