NEW DELHI \u2014 Indian defense forces have finalized a blueprint to procure more than 5,000 UAVs over\u00a0the next 10 years for about US\u00a0$3 billion, and tenders will be restricted to domestic companies that can tie up with foreign firms, said a Ministry of Defence source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lack of industrial expertise, combined with delays and cost overruns, have stymied past efforts to develop and produce indigenous\u00a0UAVs for tactical requirements. These efforts also were limited to state-owned companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In the future, the private sector will be involved in a big way to meet all future requirements of UAVs,” said an MoD official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the next three to five years, the Indian Army proposes to equip UAVs down to the battalion level, while the Air Force plans to have fully operational squadrons of surveillance UAVs and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plan includes the induction of\u00a0\u00a0many man-portable mini\u00a0and micro\u00a0UAVs for short-range surveillance, and nuclear, biological, chemical\u00a0detection in the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Indian Army, Air Force and Navy propose to buy tactical UAVs, high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAVs,\u00a0vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAVs, and medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAVs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Navy official said\u00a0the demand for MALE and tactical UAVs could rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Homegrown Programs Underway<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u00a0Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing a variety of UAVs for the services, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n DRDO is also supplying about\u00a025 Netra micro UAVs to Indian paramilitary forces at a cost of $50,000 per unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An MoD source said that in the next two years, fresh tenders will be floated for a variety of UAVs, and that\u00a0a concept study has been started on development of a bomber UAV\u00a0and a fighter UAV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Major programs that have been finalized for the Army include induction of 500 mini and\u00a0macro UAVs and\u00a0an unspecified number\u00a0of HALE\u00a0UAVs; for the Air Force are an\u00a0unspecified number\u00a0of UCAVs, 95 micro unmanned aerial systems and an unspecified number\u00a0of small VTOL and mini\u00a0unmanned aerial systems; for the Navy are 95 micro unmanned aerial systems and\u00a0unspecified numbers of HALE UAVs costing around $200 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, DRDO\u00a0also has an independent unmanned surveillance air vehicle on the drawing board, which is similar to the X-45 and\u00a0X-47\u00a0developed in the US\u00a0and is also scouting for a partner to develop a solar-powered HALE UAV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently Indian defense forces are operating Israeli-made Searcher Mark I, Searcher Mark II, Heron and Herop UAVs and the Indian-made Nishant UAV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n