The Cabinet Committee on Security approved the procurement of 15 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from Israel, at a cost of `1,200 crore. The decision taken at the recent CCS meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the procurement of UAVs was meant for the surveillance of Pak-China borders.
The proposal for procuring the UAVs will bolster Israeli-origin Heron and Searcher fleet of the force which deploys them on both the eastern and western sectors, they said. The force has a fleet of more than 40 such vehicles, which are expected to undergo upgrades in the near future.
The IAF flies the Israeli-made Searcher II and Heron UAVs for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes and about 100 Searchers are in operation on Indian borders in western, northern and eastern regions. After the upgrades, the air force would be capable of operating these aircraft from far-off distances and control them through satellite communication system.
The Army also operates a sizable number of UAVs and has deployed them in borders along the western and eastern fronts. The Army was the first to induct UAVs in the 90s starting with Searcher Mark I and Searcher Mark II which could operate at an altitude of 15,000 feet and finally the Heron, which can operate at 30,000 feet.
Army’s Northern Command had recently issued a global tender for procuring latest miniature unmanned aerial vehicles for gathering intelligence and carrying out reconnaissance of areas along line of Control (loC) with Pakistan and Sino-India border. The Navy has also three operational squadrons of the Israeli UAVs deployed along both the eastern and the western sea boards.