Various technologies are replacing human presence in war and also increased distant warfare and remote soldiers and weapons. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAVs, have changed the face of war and are seen as the future of modern warfare. Poor countries and militant groups are trying to opt it frequently as it helps in increasing air capability more easily. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAVs, these days have been used in diverse ways and they seemed to be a replacement of observatory systems of a military. India is the biggest importer of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAVs and has many indigenous and bought UAVs. An overlook of these UAVs is as follows.
UAV Nishant
Nishant is the Indian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that is developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment, a branch of DRDO for Indian armed forces. The main task of Nishant is the intelligence gathering and reconnaissance, artillery fire correction, surveillance and target destination. This UAVs needs a launching system, Mobile Hydro-Pneumatic Launcher mounted on Tatra truck and landing through parachute and landing bags.
UAV Panchi
Punchi is a wheeled version of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Nishant which is undergoing trials. UAV Panchi has some plus points as compared to UAV Nishant. It doesn’t contain parachutes and landing bags which reduces its weight and increases its endurance and its small size as compared to Nishant makes it hard to find in the enemy’s sky.
UAV Rostum
DRDO gave birth to Rustom-I in 2009 and Rustom-II is scheduled in 2015 for Army, Navy and Airforce. Indian government has approved the production of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Rustom and the three forces of India are negotiating with the four vendors of it namely L&T, Godrej, Tata, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Electronics. Its first test flight in 2009 was failed, but next flight in 2010 was successful and impressed Indian Army.
UAV Lakshya
This pilotless target aircraft is manufactured by HAL and Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of DRDO for the primary use of Army, Navy and Airforce. The main purpose of its development is target acquisition and reconnaissance. It has a rocket assisted launch and lands through a parachute. The glamour of this UAV attracted many countries like Singapore, Israel, etc.
UAV Pawan
Another soldier bird, whose production started in 2006 by DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries. Its day and night surveillance ability makes it a better option. It has 150 km range and 5-hour flight endurance. Currently, India is planning to develop 4 prototypes of Pawan with Israel Aerospace Industries.
UAV AURA (Autonomous Unnamed Research Vehicle)
This unnamed stealth bomber, specially designed by the ADA, DRDO for Indian Airforce. It has the capability to carry smart weapons and efficiently release missile and drop bombs on targets.
UAV Heron
India currently has about 12 Heron-1 drones, used for surveillance and rescue operations. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Heron had done an appraisable job in 2004 when tsunami struck India. A deal had been signed in 2013 the for the procurement of 15 UAVs from Israel, which will empower India’s sky bases operations.
UAV Raven
After U.S. officials denied the deal of global hawk with India, UAV Raven came to limelight. According to media reports, U.S. and India are discussing the deal to jointly produce Raven RQ-II. It is a small hand-launched remote-controlled Unnamed Arial Vehicle. It provides day and night aerial intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance. Well, India has developed mini unnamed vehicle “Sky bird” and hand-launched UAV Imperial Eagle. Both these have joined the race of being approved by Indian Army.
Some other UAVs and UCAVs are under trails and under development and will be introduced in forces as soon as possible. Well, these are just the beginning of a new era of war and will surely reduce the life loss. If these technologies went on increasing, then winning a war is nothing more like a game.
