Armed Forces Inducting Cargo Drones To Ease Logistics In Remote And Mountainous Border Areas

Indian armed forces are inducting more than 500 logistics drones, developed by Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) Chennai, for use in remote and challenging terrain in the mountainous border region, reported Times of India.

Intended to replace mules and, to some extent, helicopters, these 500 drones will help speed up logistics and re-supply operations in border areas.

Last Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised the project team, announcing the deployment of these drones for supplying medicines and essential items to remote border observation posts (BOPs).

Shah emphasised that this move is a significant step towards addressing security gaps in difficult terrains.

Notably, these versatile drones can operate in adverse weather conditions, including thick fog, rain, and gusty winds.

The drones, weighing 100 kg, boast the capability to carry a payload of at least 15 kg to 20 kg, including medicines, food, provisions, or oil, from one altitude from another.

They use 'guided navigational pathway' for navigating to their maximum range of 20 kilometres, to-and-fro at an altitude of one kilometres. The global positioning system-based satellite navigation system is used to fix the guided navigation, also known as 'blind-eye navigation'.

Guided by proximity sensors they can land smoothly (to the designated spots), K Senthil Kumar, Director of the Kalam Advanced Drone Research Centre at Anna University, said.

Post-landing, the drones can restart and take flight again once an 'arming switch' is activated. MIT professors Senthil Kumar and Thamarai Selvi secured an Indian patent for the timer-based switch, a crucial component in the drones' functionality.

The Kalam Advanced Drone Research Centre researchers conducted extensive tests and trial runs in Leh, Ladakh, dense jungles, and high cliffs in the North-East.

Additionally, trials in Pokhran, with high atmospheric temperatures, aimed to assess the sturdiness of the drones were also conducted.

“We were successful in all our tests and finally the drone has been inducted into the Indian Army officially now,” Senthil Kumar added.

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