NEW DELHI: Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched a major project to jointly build indigenous long-range kamikaze drones with domestic Indian partners in order to prepare itself for drone-centric warfare in future.Aiming to develop a fully indigenous ecosystem for the design, development, manufacturing and sustainment of kamikaze drones, the IAF has issued a limited tender to select Indian companies for one-way attack unmanned aerial systems (OWA-UAS).OWA-UAS, or kamikaze drones, are self-sacrificing unmanned aerial vehicles that fly to a target area, locate enemies and detonate on impact.The tender says, “invitation of bids for indigenous design, development, setting up of manufacturing facilities and training for unmanned aerial systems”. To promote self-reliance (Atmanirbharta) in defence production, the kamikaze drone project will be handled by the 5 Base Repair Depot (BRD) at Sulur near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, which has been designated as the nodal agency.As per specifications, IAF will retain Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of the drone platform that is proposed to be designed, developed and manufactured entirely in India with the help of home-grown companies and startups. The specifications said these kamikaze drones should be able to operate up to 16,000 feet and can function both in day and night conditions. The project will enable faster upgrades, modifications and customisation as per operational needs, the statement said.Defence minister Rajnath Sigh recently said recent global conflicts are proof that drones and counter-drone technologies are destined to play a pivotal role in future warfare and, therefore, self-reliance in drone manufacturing is essential.10 bids submitted in race for IAF’s Rs 30,000cr long-range UAV contractAt least 10 bids have been received from Indian private and public sector firms by the defence ministry for the race to manufacture 87 medium-altitude long-range, endurance unmanned aerial vehicles for the IAF. The mega project is valued at around Rs 30,000 crore. Tuesday was the last day for submission of bids. The project was cleared by the ministry last year, under which it wants to promote Indian manufacturers to build the drones planned to be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, along with the capability to strike targets.
