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India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has recently revealed its plan to develop the Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).
A senior DRDO scientist said DRDO will be associating itself with a production and development partner for which reputed Indian industries will be vying for. DRDO, which has been authorized to collaborate, will cut time on design, development and transfer of technology to an industry for the production of MALE UAVs. The production and development partner will play the role of system integrator, added the DRDO scientist.
Since mid-2008, DRDO has been in talks with several private sector companies, including the Tata Group and Larsen & Toubro for manufacturing Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAVs, which will be developed by the DRDO. These MALE UAVs will fly at tens of thousands of feet, watching targets for more than 24 hours continuously. The MALE UAV programme will be the first in which the DRDO will have a partner from the private sector.
DRDO cites two main reasons to develop the MALE UAVs. According to DRDO officials, firstly, the large number of UAVs the military requires creates a powerful commercial logic for a private company to manufacture them. Secondly, the DRDO feared that import of MALE UAVs might be blocked due to Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
Besides, the DRDO is developing the new generation UAV capable of deploying Laser Target Designators (LTD) which will cut down the risk of troops being trapped in enemy territory and help in target location.
DRDO has also produced an upgraded version of the Lakshya drone from the IAF. The micro-light pilotless target aircraft was fitted with an advanced digitally controlled engine and successfully flown from the Integrated Test Range in Balasore.
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