India to leave sUAS manufacture to private enterprise.

According to the Indian Press Information Bureau, the following information was given last week by Indian Defence Minister, Shri AK Antony, and Minister of State for Defence, Shri MM Pallam Raju, in written replies to members of the Parliament of India:

RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT

The government does not propose to manufacture small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) of less than 200 Kgs. Private industry is allowed to manufacture and market small UAVs.

DRDO has developed 370 Kg UAV “Nishant” and 800 Kg “Rustom-I” for the Army, having endurance of 4 and half hours and 12-15 hours respectively. Small UAVs generally have very low Radar Cross Sections and may not be easily detectable by radars.