The Army Design Bureau has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Drone Federation of India (DFI) to collaboratively work towards promoting research, development, testing and manufacturing of drones, counter-drone and associated technologies that can assist the Army in its operations, the Army said in a statement on Monday.
As per the new MoU, both parties have agreed to collaboratively work to create a road map for drone, counter-drone and allied technologies in the Army. “To promote research, development, testing and indigenous manufacturing of drones and associated technologies by provision of testing sites to enable the designing, prototyping, testing and manufacturing of drones and associated components,” the statement said.
It also aims to develop goal-based technology research programs in groups with members from industry, academia and the armed forces and enabling outreach for Field Trials in collaboration with industry and user groups of the Armed Forces.
The Army Design Bureau is the nodal agency of the Indian Army to be the facilitator for the research and development efforts with the Industry, Academia, DRDO and DPSUs to enable them to understand and appreciate user requirements in depth.
Army and DFI also launched the ‘Him Drone-a-thon’ programme, a pan-India sustained connect between all stakeholders, including industry, academia, software developers and drone product manufacturers.
It will be conducted in stages with quantifiable parameters (like altitude, weight, range, endurance etc) being progressively enhanced based on demonstrated capabilities, the Army said.
To begin with, the focus is on development of logistics, load carrying drones in high altitude areas, autonomous search and rescue drones and micro/nano drones for built-up areas.
