As part of capability enhancement in Arunachal Pradesh beyond the Tawang sector, the Indian Army is set to deploy two Heron-Mk2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), procured on lease, along the Line of Actual Control (LCA) in the Eastern sector by end of September, defence sources said.
“Four SATCOM [satellite communications] enabled UAVs were contracted last year by the Army. Out of these two have been deployed at Leh and two will be inducted in Eastern Command by September end,” an Army source said. “This will increase the operational reach manifold.”
These four UAVs are on lease from Israel Aircraft Industries and are more capable than the ones in service.
As reported by The Hindu yesterday, the Army is looking to create a separate cadre of UAV operators. The proposal is currently with the Army Headquarters and once cleared, will be sent to the Defence Ministry for approval.
Since the stand-off in Eastern Ladakh, the Army Aviation had seen a quantum jump in the employment of helicopters and UAVs along the Northern and Eastern borders.
The UAVs are carrying out 24-hour surveillance and can look beyond 300 km, a Lieutenant Colonel with an Army Aviation Unit near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border said. “They are used to identify personnel, vehicles and even transmissions beyond the border. They can find the electro-magnetic transmissions by enemy like frequency etc.,” the officer explained.
In addition, UAVs are also being used in internal security duties to identify hideouts of insurgents and even number of insurgents, another officer said on their employment in counter insurgency role. The video feed is sent live during operations to assist forces on the ground, the officer added.
In August 2021, Army Aviation got control of the Army’s UAVs which were earlier under the Artillery. The Army operates over 30 Heron UAVs procured from Israel.
However, a major upgrade plan for weaponisation and facilitation of SATCOM capability for them at an estimated cost of over ₹6,000 crore has been delayed, officials had stated earlier. This is part of a comprehensive upgrade of all Israeli drones with the three Services that is in the works and estimated to cost of ₹21,000 crore.
In addition, with the deal for armed Predator drones from the US stuck, the Army is looking at procuring long range Hermes 900 UAVs from Israel which are manufactured in India by Adani Group.
The Army Aviation has three Brigades at Leh, Missamari and Jodhpur, and operates around 145 indigenous Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH), 75 of which are the weaponised variants (Rudra). Another 25 ALH Mk-III are on order which will be inducted within two years. It has begun inducting the indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and will receive AH-64E Apache attack helicopters in early 2024.
