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| Sources in the defence and security establishment said cost negotiations for the nearly Rs 5,000 crore project involving Herons that are in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF), Army, and the Navy, has been completed and is in the last stage of decision making. |
New Delhi: After many rounds of discussions, India’s Heron drone
will be upgraded and armed with the help of Israel, the “Cheetah Project” is
finally ready to take off. Projects involving herons serving in the Indian Air
Force (IAF), Army and Navy have been completed and are in the final stages of
decision-making.
According to sources, within the framework of the project, the
Israeli medium and high altitude long endurance (MALE) herons used by the three
services will be upgraded. Satellite navigation and dedicated sensors, but the
icing on the cake is the plan to combine them. According to the contract, the
Israelis will upgrade the heron so that it can not only perform more
professional and longer surveillance missions, but also perform precision
strikes.
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| after several rounds of discussions, Project Cheetah, under which India’s Heron drones are to be upgraded and armed with Israel’s help, is finally set to take off |
According to sources, the heron will be able to carry and launch
precise air-to-surface missiles. As the situation developed, the Indian Defense
Forces also decided to jointly purchase 30 high-altitude long-endurance armed
UAVs MQ-9B from the United States. The source explained that the two systems
are different in capacity and usage. Therefore, there is no overlap.
The source
said that after the Rafale fighter contract, the priority is the 83 TEJAS MK-1A
deal signed earlier this year. Other priorities include certain missile
systems. Projects initially initiated by IAF According to sources, the Cheetah The project was first initiated by IAF in 2013.
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| Sources in the defence and security establishment said cost negotiations for the nearly Rs 5,000 crore project involving Herons that are in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF), Army, and the Navy, has been completed and is in the last stage of decision making. |
At the time, the IAF was planning
to upgrade the Heron used with them. Subsequently, it was decided to enhance
the heron when serving in the army and navy. There is also a plan to buy armed
Predator drones in bulk from the United States, but because the system proved
to be very expensive, it was shelved. Heron’s goal serves its intended purpose
because the idea is to equip these systems with anti-personnel and anti-armour
missiles that are smaller than traditional missiles.
“The drone will operate in
the disputed airspace. Because it will eventually have its own sensors and
weapons, it reduces the time it takes to detect targets and launch attacks from
other places.
The idea of having such a system is to reduce the risk of
pilots flying fighter jets,” a former senior IAF official explained. The
official explained that another Israeli unmanned reconnaissance aircraft used
by the Indian army, searchers, cannot be armed because their size is
smaller.