IAF to purchase 6 Tapas drones, acquisition of leads for UAVs made in India | External Affairs Defense Security News

The Indian Air Force has submitted a proposal to the central government to buy 10 Tapas drones in a bid to significantly strengthen its indigenous unmanned surveillance capabilities for defense forces, officials said on Sunday.

Defense officials told ANI that of these 10 drones, six made in India will be for the Indian Air Force and the remaining four for the Indian Navy.

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The Indian Air Force will be the lead agency in inducting and acquiring Tapas drones in the defense forces, they said.

The IAF’s proposal is expected to be discussed in the Ministry of Defense soon. Officials said the two forces are currently only purchasing drones.

Tapas drones are medium-altitude endurance drones that have been developed in-house by the Defense Research and Development Organization and must be manufactured by a consortium of Bharat Electronics Limited and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Officials say drones cannot meet the requirements of defense forces, but the services’ limited rollout of them will help modernize and improve them in the near future to meet greater demands.

The IAF has a fleet of Israeli Searcher, Heron Mark-1 and Mark-2 drones and plans to introduce American Predator MQ-9B drones in the future as part of a three-service acquisition. They said six indigenously developed Tapas drones would help improve unmanned surveillance on both the northern and western fronts.

In recent times, the Indian Air Force has emerged as one of the staunchest supporters of Make in India in Defense and orders for 180 LCA Mark 1A and 156 LCH attack helicopters worth approximately Rs 1.6 trillion have been placed or will be placed by it soon.

The Indian Navy intends to use Tapas for maritime surveillance activities. The consortium will ensure faster deliveries as the first bird will be ready for delivery within 24 months of signing the contract, it claims.

DRDO is continuing the Tapas project to further develop the system. The Tapas drones being developed by the Aeronautics Development Laboratory were unable to fully meet the joint services quality requirements for flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet for more than 24 hours continuously and were excluded from the mission mode design category.

The Tapas drone was tested by the armed forces and during the trials it managed to reach an altitude of 28,000 feet and could fly for over 18 hours.