UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 04 Feb 2020 00:53

https://twitter.com/hvtiaf/status/12243 ... 31875?s=20 ---> @hvtiaf Sir....here is a concept image of a possible HTFE25 powered HALE drone, something like the RQ4 Global Hawk. Does HAL plans to design such drones in near future?

https://twitter.com/hvtiaf/status/12243 ... 31875?s=20 ---> Yes definitely. Higher speed Drones.

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 04 Feb 2020 01:10

Synergy among stakeholders must to power India’s UAV missions
https://english.manoramaonline.com/life ... sions.html
01 February 2020

Ankit Desai · Post by **Ankit Desai** » 04 Feb 2020 01:39

Soon, tech that can aid forces in ‘beyond enemy lines’ operations

A special personnel tracker being developed for 'strategic use' holds the potential of aiding India’s armed forces sent on ‘beyond the enemy lines’ operations in the future, and the fact that the new technology is completely indigenous will mean more secrecy.

As part of its Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has developed the technology for the said personnel tracker, and transferred the same to Defense PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

This technology is not part of the regular chipsets or other receivers developed as part of IRNSS programme. This will be part of ‘Restricted Service’ (IRNSS-RS), developed specifically for strategic users of the country, a source from the department of space, said.

Isro has been quiet about this technology, which has been in the works for at least 18 months now. One official Isro document that partially explains this and other IRNSS-RS technologies, reads: “The IRNSS–RS provides location navigation service with anti-spoofing technology for authorized users. Personnel Tracker gives position information in TDMA mode of operation.”

TDMA or time-division multiple access mode — which separates users according to time — ensures that there will be no interference from simultaneous transmissions, while anti-spoofing technology prevents traffic from false sources (IP addresses).

In a written reply to TOI on whether it was developing a personnel tracker, BEL said: “BEL has signed an agreement with Isro for development of a two-way reporting terminal and personnel tracker based on IRNSS. The two-way reporting terminal will be used to track the position of fishing vessels and reporting emergencies. The personnel tracker will be a one way reporting terminal for reporting the position of person/vehicle based on IRNSS.”

Elaborating on this, sources said given that IRNSS covers the entire sub-continent region, if a team of armed forces personnel “were on a job on the other side (of the border), their commanders back home will know their exact position at all times.”

The Isro document further read: “The tracker supports small message as well as data transfer through satellite and USB/Bluetooth user data interface. This tracker will be used to track the person in the field of operation in situations like disaster rescue operation, surveillance etc.”

When asked a specific question on its uses in “beyond enemy lines” operations, Isro chairman K Sivan told TOI: “I don’t want to elaborate on this question as it is a strategic project.” On the benefits of tracking ships and personnel, he said: “It has complete strategic uses, we shouldn’t discuss it now.”

Sources said that the fact this technology would be working on completely indigenous technology, including the satellite used to get the location — longitude and latitude — makes it more suitable for such operations.

Before IRNSS, while India could, using its remote sensing satellites map areas of operation/s, it had to depend on foreign resources like the GPS for location and navigation services. “Now, the data will remain with us and only us,” another source said.

Apart from this technology, BEL, working jointly with Isro has developed a portable IRNSS Receiver for navigation applications. “As an offshoot of this programme, BEL has developed variants based on IRNSS-RS receiver functionality such as PTS (Precision Time Servers) in both rack mount and wall mount form factors and receivers with Map-based navigation application.”

-Ankit

Thakur_B · Post by **Thakur_B** » 04 Feb 2020 19:29

HAL ties up with IAI to manufacture Heron TP in India. RIP Tapas/Rustom.

HAL to make advanced armed UAVs with Israeli Co
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 887330.cms
03 Feb 2020

manjgu · Post by **manjgu** » 04 Feb 2020 21:55

not a aerospace engineer but what fails me is ... we can design space rockets/satellites/Tejas / etc but cant make a UAV !! whats missing??

Ankit Desai · Post by **Ankit Desai** » 10 Feb 2020 23:57

Battle Cry | Why Does India Need Combat Drones? Ghatak - New armed drone on horizon.

-Ankit

sum · Post by **sum** » 17 Feb 2020 13:38

Any updates on any of the UAV programs since zilch news on any over these 1-2 years ?

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 25 Feb 2020 06:34

https://twitter.com/livefist/status/123 ... 16352?s=20 ----> BIG: The President made it clear in his scripted speech today that armed drones requested by India are very much part of ‘dealings’ at present. India has asked for at least 10 Avenger/Predator C drones, turned down by the Obama Admin.

kit · Post by **kit** » 25 Feb 2020 15:53

Rakesh wrote:https://twitter.com/livefist/status/123 ... 16352?s=20 ----> BIG: The President made it clear in his scripted speech today that armed drones requested by India are very much part of ‘dealings’ at present. India has asked for at least 10 Avenger/Predator C drones, turned down by the Obama Admin.

looks like the deal is done, for 10+10+10, for each service in different configurations., but i do worry about spending nearly 200 million a pop (more than a fighter jet) when their survivability is in question against a well defended air space, we are not going after the mullahs or a rag tag militia.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 27 Feb 2020 13:31

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 03 Mar 2020 20:12

X-post from Levent crises thread

In the Syrian civil war, Turkey is using its indigenous drones to target Syrian govt targets. Expect the Turks to export some of them to Pakis .

Turkey’s Killer Drone Swarm Poses Syria Air Challenge to Putin

Turkish drones – a 'game changer' in Idlib

Russian War Correspondent Sheds Light on Turkey's Drone Warfare in Idlib

Turkish drones being used in Syria reportedly include the TAI Anka family of drones, which have a weapons payload of up to 200 kg, as well as the Bayraktar TB2, a long-endurance UAV armed with anti-tank missiles.

Krishnakg · Post by **Krishnakg** » 04 Mar 2020 16:48

Turkish UAV's destroyed a Russian-made BUK-M2 (SA-17) medium-range air defense missile system as the regime attempted to pull it out of the conflict zone in Saraqib. https://t.co/H3jZ7QFBCQ

Earlier, Turkish armed UAV's destroyed another Russian-made Pantsir S1 (SA-22) air defense system which had an active radar in Serakib.

Turkish forces are definitely using armed drone swarms and electronic warfare effectively to control the large Idlib area. Noteworthy.

brar_w · Post by **brar_w** » 04 Mar 2020 21:35

Krishnakg wrote:Turkish UAV's destroyed a Russian-made BUK-M2 (SA-17) medium-range air defense missile system as the regime attempted to pull it out of the conflict zone in Saraqib. https://t.co/H3jZ7QFBCQ

Earlier, Turkish armed UAV's destroyed another Russian-made Pantsir S1 (SA-22) air defense system which had an active radar in Serakib.

Turkish forces are definitely using armed drone swarms and electronic warfare effectively to control the large Idlib area. Noteworthy.

Turkey is using relatively cheap small to medium sized drones in that theater which isn't something new or innovative (though it is for them). They are most definitely NOT using drone swarms or anything of that nature which is a technology and capability that is probably half a decade to a decade out (at that scale/capability) even for the most technologically advanced nations.

Krishnakg · Post by **Krishnakg** » 05 Mar 2020 22:42

They are most definitely NOT using drone swarms

I agree with you, in your correction of me using the word "drone swarm". Precisely defined, drone swarms are “multiple unmanned platforms and/or weapons deployed to accomplish a shared objective, with the platforms and/or weapons autonomously altering their behavior based on communication with one another" according to net sources.

What I was trying to communicate was that they are flying multiple drones (not autonomous or in sync with each other) simultaneously and continuously hitting the Syrian columns and convoys.

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 25 Apr 2020 12:33

Talent at the grass-roots level. Needs to find a way into our existing systems & the private sector

This young lad in another recent interview to a local TV channel said that he wanted to focus on creating a drone vehicle to aid the army in COIN ops

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 28 Apr 2020 01:39

https://twitter.com/ThingNavy/status/12 ... 42916?s=20 ---> Indian Navy UAV.

Parasu · Post by **Parasu** » 28 Apr 2020 15:50

Here are some details on the Turkish UAV programme, their usage, capabilities etc.
Clearly, they are way ahead of India with one fourth defence budget.
Their drones are duelling with Chinese drones (Wing Loong2 used by UAE) in Libya.

https://jamestown.org/program/turkeys-d ... ver-idlib/

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 28 Apr 2020 15:55

Turkey has a record of Photo shopping Drone achievements as recently in Syria, so need to compare with India and self flagalate.

Krita · Post by **Krita** » 28 Apr 2020 16:56

Manish_P wrote:Talent at the grass-roots level. Needs to find a way into our existing systems & the private sector

This young lad in another recent interview to a local TV channel said that he wanted to focus on creating a drone vehicle to aid the army in COIN ops

Driverless tractor testing started way back in 2015 in Mahindra research valley. Four years are over and still no sign of commercial launch.
Mahindra and TCS needs to get such talented people on board.

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 28 Apr 2020 17:48

^ Mahindra, TCS... and perhaps DRDO?

The reason i put this video was his mentioning a desire to make remote tanks. Very ambitious perhaps, but in another interview (to a local channel) he mentioned his specific desire to make a ROV to aid the army in Anti-Terrorist/COIN ops.

Now I don't mean this specific young man, or his specific project per se. What i am trying to say is that the sense & skill of engineering/jugaad/screwdrivergiri, whatever you would like to label it, needs to be inculcated, nurtured and then tapped into. Make in India need not be only at a large company level. It needs to be at the grassroots level, like the startup culture of the US IT scene.

Parasu · Post by **Parasu** » 28 Apr 2020 20:19

Aditya_V wrote:Turkey has a record of Photo shopping Drone achievements as recently in Syria, so need to compare with India and self flagalate.

Credit should be given where its due. Turkey has done good for itself both in Syria as well as in Libya using drones. In contrast, India has not developed effective UAVs till date. These are facts.
Saying anything less than "India is a super duper power" is termed self-flagellation these days.

Mollick.R · Post by **Mollick.R** » 07 May 2020 13:24

13 consortia get aviation ministry approval to operate drones
BY ALNOOR PEERMOHAMED, ET BUREAU | UPDATED: MAY 07, 2020, 08.20 AM IST

BENGALURU: The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted exemptions to 13 consortia to operate drones on an experimental basis, without the need for unique identification numbers and operator permits till September 30.

The move paves the way for these consortia, which include ones floated by budget airline SpiceJet, Nandan Nilekani-backed ShopX, Google-backed Dunzo and drone maker Throttle Aerospace, to pilot the use of drones to transport goods, once approved. The pilots will be part of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) experimental drone operations, for which it had floated an expression of interest in May 2019.

Eleven out of the 13 consortia are awaiting final approvals from the DGCA, while ET had reported on March 19 that the consortia floated by Dunzo and Throttle Aerospace had received the authority's nod for the BVLOS experiments.

It is considered necessary in the public interest to conduct the BVLOS experimental flights, even though the drones to be deployed for such flights may not meet the requirements of UIN and Operator Permit stipulated under Rule 15A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937,” according to the MoCA’s April 18 order, which ET has seen.
.
.
It will also be conducted in airspace approved by the Airports Authority of India and will have to be geo-fenced to ensure that they do not stray beyond the approved airspace boundary, the order said.

Other consortia that have been exempted include Aerospace Industry Development Association of Tamil Nadu, Asteria Aerospace, Clearsky Flight Consortium, Daksha Unmanned Systems, Sagar Defence Engineering, Saubika Consortium and Value Thought IT Solutions.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 585314.cms

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 15 May 2020 18:45

This post from the J&K thread in the strategy forums was a very tough read.

While the SOPs are getting continually updated, wanted to know, from a tech pov, if any micro drones are in development in our defence labs and whether we can consider purchasing them from outside till we can create them here?

Drones like the Black Hornet being tried in the USA

https://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/posting.php?mode=quote&f=1&p=2432128

krishna_krishna wrote:Posting this on Handwara

Saturday, May 2 (1500 hours (approx.): Indian army receive intel, a group of militants that escaped from Rajwar forests a day before have taken refuge in a two storey house in Changimulla, in the foot of the forest, 1.4 miles (approx.) from the location where first standoff with militants took place on previous day. Indian security forces launch a cordon and search ops in the village. 21-RR, 15-RR, 30-RR, 22-RR, 92-CRPF, Para-9 and J&K Police’s SOG take part in the ops. The joint-ops is led by Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, Major Anuj and sub-inspector SOG, Qazi Sagheer, two of them decorated counterinsurgency specialists with decades of experience working in counterinsurgency ops in Kashmir.

Saturday, May 2 (1530 hours (approx.): The target-house is located and contact with militants is established. A fierce gun battle rages, exchange of fire takes from both sides. Indian army used assault rifles, UBGLs, recoilless launchers against the holed up militants. The firefight ‘ends’ and there is a long enduring lull, long enough to give Indian security forces assurance and confidence that all militants were neutralised and encounter was over. Indian security forces chose not to blow up the house in usual way or burn it down to ashes like it is usually done in encounters in Kashmir. They may have tried to save the poor carpenter’s house presuming militants were dead already and no further action was required. When militants don’t resist for long, are neutralised in initial stages of the gunfight, the house is spared.

1830 hours (approx.): Indian security forces lead by Colonel Sharma, Major Anuj and sub-inspector Qazi approached the target-house to check on the presumed ‘dead’ militants, a miscalculation, an error in judgement that would cost them dearly. As soon as they came closer to the target-house, a lone militant, out of nowhere, emerged from an abutting single storey structure and fired indiscriminately at them. The spray-down from his Kalashnikov hit four men, Major Anuj, two soldiers and sub-inspector Qazi, two of them above neck, two in the wings and abdomen.

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 24 May 2020 07:51

Special Ops Forces Of The Indian Army Looking To Kit-Out With Tactical UAV Systems

An interesting development occurred last week. The Indian Army [IA] floated a Request For Information [RFI] [archive] towards the acquisition of 150 Nos. of micro Unmanned Aerial Systems [UAS], or Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems [RPAS]. Leaving no doubt about its end-use, it stated that the buy was to "enhance the situational awareness of squad and troop involved in various special operations tasks". These portable, light-weight systems, capable of Day-Night Surveillance, performing Vertical Take-Off & Landing [VTOL], having a gross weight of less than 15 Kilograms [6 kg for the Flying Unit], are required to have a range of no less than 5 Kilometres, fulfilling minimum mission time of 45 minutes over Area of Interest.

https://www.spansen.com/2020/05/special ... t-out.html

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 24 May 2020 11:05

Good to hear this. I hope it will not be a long drawn out process.

However i would like the army to also consider buying/investing in the micro or even nano drones (like the Black Hornet drone in my previous post), weighing less than a kg, to be used at squad level, especially during COIN/Anti-terrorist ops.

It would be good if those kind, would be developed/manufactured in india by private firms or even organisations like the IITs

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 10 Jul 2020 12:19

I am sure many of you have read about the drone boy who has won accolades all over the world and been offered a job at DRDO by the PM.
It did sound suspicious to most of us.
story debunked
https://www.opindia.com/2020/07/drone-b ... ssion=true

Sumair · Post by **Sumair** » 10 Jul 2020 23:41

Rahul M wrote:I am sure many of you have read about the drone boy who has won accolades all over the world and been offered a job at DRDO by the PM.
It did sound suspicious to most of us.
story debunked
https://www.opindia.com/2020/07/drone-b ... ssion=true

Curious as to who this boy is and the purpose behind these fake stories about him.

csaurabh · Post by **csaurabh** » 11 Jul 2020 11:15

Sumair wrote:
Rahul M wrote:I am sure many of you have read about the drone boy who has won accolades all over the world and been offered a job at DRDO by the PM.
It did sound suspicious to most of us.
story debunked
https://www.opindia.com/2020/07/drone-b ... ssion=true
Curious as to who this boy is and the purpose behind these fake stories about him.

Come now let's not be so paranoid, there is no one behind him. A foolish young lad has been telling tall tales about himself that is all.
Rather more disturbing is the fact that our news media accepted this drivel at face value and been repeating it everywhere. It tells a lot about how these people operate.

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 11 Jul 2020 17:45

Rahul M wrote:I am sure many of you have read about the drone boy who has won accolades all over the world and been offered a job at DRDO by the PM.
It did sound suspicious to most of us.
story debunked
https://www.opindia.com/2020/07/drone-b ... ssion=true

Rahul sir, thanks for sharing that article. It was interesting to read about young Harshwardhansinh Zala and his company Aerobotics7 who has tried to build landmine detecting/warning drone. Although the company website doesn't have information, i saw this year old article about him on ET

Interesting that instead of rounded figures like 90 %.. it says 89% to 93%

Any idea how legit this young man is?

Boardroom lessons from a 16-year-old CEO

Zala was invited to visit the Google and Facebook offices as part of a private fellowship. “Over 15 days, I visited the headquarters of these giants, attended a few meetings and even met some investors but I couldn’t find the technology I needed.”

At the time, Zala was looking for a solution to detect and detonate buried landmines without risking human lives. “I started researching the parameters of landmines, the material components, the explosive materials used and how to detect while it’s buried,” said Zala, who worked with a 3D printer to make the chassis for the first few prototypes.

Zala said the device — EAGLE A7 (Escort for Attacking on Ground & buried Landmines as Enemy by Aerobotics7) — was recently tested at an army test field, achieving an accuracy rate of 89-93 per cent

csaurabh · Post by **csaurabh** » 11 Jul 2020 22:17

I did some quick reading on him.

There seems to be very little info available on what he is actually doing. The website doesn't really have any pics or technical details.
The only things mentioned in articles is that the mines are detected using multi-spectral imaging. Which is possible I guess. Multi-spectral/hyper spectral imaging is used in many applications including remote sensing from orbit. No info on how the mines are detonated, if it even does it at all. Aint no way the kid is making hyper spectral cameras. Maybe buying it and integrating it with a drone kit. And hyper spectral imaging aint cheap btw.

I did a quick google search and found this
https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/19/1222 ... afon-drone
This seems a lot more plausible and gives a lot more details on how the process actually works.

The story also has some oddballs, like him visiting Google and facebook and not finding the technology he wanted. These are not drone companies, so not sure what he was looking for there. Unlike drone boy (a complete fraud ) this may be a case of overhyping. Still, time is on his side if he wants to make his mark in the world of drones.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 12 Jul 2020 01:28

Getting a sensor to click a hyperspectral image(s) is not a big deal, interpreting those images is a very challenging and potentially rewarding subject. It's almost an art as much as it is a science. It might he was at Google looking for algo's to help him in this? Google does do some of this ML/AI (or as desi techies call it, malai

) based interpretation of drone vids.

MeshaVishwas · Post by **MeshaVishwas** » 14 Jul 2020 17:52

https://m.economictimes.com/news/defenc ... 959494.cms

schinnas · Post by **schinnas** » 14 Jul 2020 22:05

MeshaVishwas wrote:https://m.economictimes.com/news/defenc ... 959494.cms

While posting a link, pls post the title as well. Ideally a few lines of key excerpt. Thanks!

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 15 Jul 2020 21:29

Again foreign maal ? What happened to Rustom and other Indian UAVs ? Even turkey which is inferior to us in technological capabilities and defense budget wise has developed its own armed UAVs and even actively using them in Syria and Libya and here we are still importing UAVs from Israel. Our import dalal's and their foreign partners will make sure we will never develop our own UAVs. Sabotage indigenous programs in normal times and buy import stuff at exorbitant prices during emergency times. Sorry for the rant.

schinnas · Post by **schinnas** » 21 Jul 2020 19:35

What are these Bharath drones from DRDO that are supposedly used in Ladakh. Never heard of them before.

This ToI article makes tall claims (friend / for detection, swarming capabilities, etc) but article is devoid of useful details.
How good are our DRDO Bharat drones. Lot of tall claims about its use in Ladakh with no useful detail.

https://m.timesofindia.com/india/indian ... 084103.cms

schinnas · Post by **schinnas** » 21 Jul 2020 19:41

This newsX video has a picture of this Quadcopter drone with unibody construction. But no info on range, endurance and other capabilities. Jam proof real time video uplink is a huge plus.

https://youtu.be/TvzmxZrvNRg

Vips · Post by **Vips** » 09 Aug 2020 19:57

Armed forces push case for arming Israeli drone fleet with laser-guided bombs, missiles.

Amid border tension with China, the armed forces are pushing a case for arming their Heron UAVs with laser-guided bombs, precision-guided
munitions and anti-tank missiles for taking out enemy positions and armoured regiments. The proposal named Project Cheetah has been revived by the armed forces after being pending for a long time and is expected to cost over Rs 3,500 crores to the government.

"Under this project, around 90 Heron drones of the three services would be upgraded to be armed with laser-guided bombs, air to ground and air-launched anti-tank guided missiles," government sources told ANI The case is going to be considered by a high-level Defence Ministry body including Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar, who is now the in-charge of all capital procurements for the three services.

In the proposal, the armed forces have proposed to equip the drones with stronger surveillance and reconnaissance payloads for keeping an eye on enemy locations and stations and take them out, if required.

The Indian fleet of medium altitude long endurance drones also known as unmanned aerial vehicles includes mainly Israeli equipment including the Herons.They have been deployed by both the Army and Air Force in the forward locations of Ladakh sector along the China border there. The drones are also helping in verifying the disengagement by Chinese as well as knowing their troop build up strength in-depth areas.

The project on upgrading the drones for carrying out offensive operations against the enemies would involve a number of Indian-developed solutions too. The upgraded UAVs can be used against conventional military operations as well as in counter-terrorism operations in future, if required, sources said.

With the upgrade in reconnaissance capabilities, the forces on the ground would also be able to get pin-point intelligence about hideouts in areas where men have to be involved in operations. The upgrades would also enable the Armed forces' ground station handlers to operate these aircraft from far-of distances and control them through the satellite communication system.

Thakur_B · Post by **Thakur_B** » 10 Aug 2020 03:26

Is the Rustom-1 project officially dead? It's been a good 6 years since we saw it taxiing on the runway with two missiles hung underwing. Forget the armed version, there has been no unarmed version inducted.

sum · Post by **sum** » 10 Aug 2020 06:24

Thats is the saddest part that we couldnt even get a unarmed version also up in the air and atleast into a LSP stage even after all these years

Heartbreaking to see billion after billions being given away to Israeli and other cos for even vanilla UAVs ( not talking about the niche armed or ultra long endurance types)

Indranil · Post by **Indranil** » 10 Aug 2020 12:35

It has been disappointing for sure. Next up is UAVTD, which is a scaled down Ghatak. 1 ton in weight.