In keeping with the fast changing military ecosystem where unmanned aerial vehicles or ‘drones’ are nowadays considered indispensable, the defence ministry on Monday issued a Request for Proposal (RFI) for 163 ‘high altitude’ and 200 ‘medium altitude’ platforms for the Indian Army that will be operable in fully autonomous, manual and ‘return to home’ modes.
Termed ‘logistics’ drones, these platforms will be primarily used for all-weather and day-night operations to carry payloads that can be used for supply and logistics right from ammunition to clothing to surveillance and reconnaissance payloads with capability to beyond borders into ‘depth’ areas.
In effect, they can be veritable force multipliers by providing the 'last mile connect' to the troops and deployments on the ground.
The acquisition is to take place under the emergency procurement provision through Fast Track Procedure (FTP) under Buy (Indian) category with at least 60 per cent indigenous content or a minimum of 50 per cent if the drone design is indigenous.
The proposal has sought these drones weighing not more than 100 kg with a payload of not less than 15 kg and that can easily withstand high altitude strong wind currents and gusts. It should have an endurance of at least 40 minutes with the payload and an operational range of at least 10 km.
For the high altitude drones, the platforms should be able to operate at temperatures between 30 degrees to minus 20 degrees while for the medium altitude drones, the operable temperature range should be between 45 degrees and minus 20 degrees.
The last date and time for bid submission is 2 pm on November 11, 2022.
Interestingly, the proposal seeks a certification stating that the hardware and the software being offered, as part of the contract, “does not contain embedded malicious code that would activate procedures to inhibit the desired and designed function of the equipment, cause physical damage to the user or equipment during the exploitation or tap information resident or transient in the equipment / networks.” Anything otherwise would be considered a breach of contract.
The high altitude drones would have to be capable of being launched from not less than 4,000 metres from sea level and 1,000 metres from above ground level while, for the medium altitude drones the corresponding figures are 3,000 metres and 1,000 metres respectively.
