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India to buy 50 drones from Israel

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: India has renewed interest in buying unmanned spy planes from Israel for deployment on its borders with Pakistan and China.

A deal with Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) for the purchase of 50 Heron aircraft that can mount a remote surveillance of the ground from a height of 20,000 feet is in advanced stage of negotiation.

The Indian Army may sign the contract for the Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in December as it is only waiting for political clearance after identifying the Israeli aircraft as the best for use in the Himalayas. Other bidders’ UAVs failed in the height test.

The Indian Army already has a fleet of 12 Heron UAVs and their efficiency has been established beyond doubt, source said. They point out that a deal worth over $210 million was almost struck in early 2004 but it fell through because of the change of government at the centre.

The present political leadership has been convinced by the drones’ value after they played a crucial part in search and rescue operations following the Indian Ocean tsunami in December last year. Israeli-made Searcher and Heron UAVs were used to locate trapped survivors and missing bodies, primarily in the region of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Since these UAVs are able to relay clear photographs while in flight, the Indian Air Force was able to dispatch rescue helicopters as soon as a survivor or victims were identified on screen via a live feed.

An impressed political leadership approved the Defence Ministry’s proposal that such UAVs, which can monitor 50 to 60 square kilometres each, should be deployed on the Line of Control (LoC) and on the Chinese border to detect intrusions.

The Defence Ministry pressed for UAVs as it does not have an early-airborne warning and control system (AWACS), nor will it have falcon radars until 2007.

The Heron is a medium-altitude, long-endurance strategic UAV. The IAI’s UAV plant builds the Heron’s airframe, while IAI-TAMAM Optronics and Navigation manufactures the UAV’s cameras, thermal cameras and laser sensors.

The Indian Army already has the indigenously-produced ‘Nishant’ multirole UAVs, tasked primarily with intelligence gathering in the border areas. The sources said the system mounted on the Heron can much better monitor the LoC.

They said the Indian Army is also making inquiries about the Hunter, another UAV made by the same Israeli firm.

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