Mumbai : Within a month of the Union Budget 2022-23 announcing that 68% of its Defence Capital Procurement budget would be reserved for domestic organizations, the largest single VTOL Mini UAV defence contract globally has been awarded to ideaForge for its SWITCH UAV. As a part of this contract, ideaForge shall deliver 200 systems to augment the Indian Army’s Surveillance capabilities.
ideaForge won this contract against stiff competition from Israel, Russia, Ukraine, France, India and others. The SWITCH UAV was the only system that emerged successful from the rigorous testing and field trials that the Indian Army is well known for.
Speaking on the deal, Ankit Mehta, ideaForge Co-Founder and CEO said, “ideaForge has engineered this product with the unique VTOL approach keeping in mind the terrain challenges in the operational areas of the Indian Army. Our drones are ‘Built like a bird and tested like a tank’, an expression we coined as our systems were undergoing the harshest field trials and lab testing as a part of our journey to bagging this contract. Looking ahead, we want to take this expertise across the world, to everyone in need of protecting their borders or to empower their forces with unprecedented last mile situational awareness.”
Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia (Retd), former DGMO and Director CENJOWS said, “UAVs are indispensable for ISR. This contract for Mini VTOL UAVs is the result of a five year long intensive procurement procedure. We are happy that the contract has been awarded to an Indian firm, ideaForge, who have proven the test of time, weather, terrain and performance against other global systems, contributing to the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
Built on a strong foundation of interdisciplinary engineering, ideaForge has become a global leader in UAV technology. Its drones offer class-leading performance, reliability, and autonomy, and have been widely adopted for defence, homeland security and enterprise applications.
In India, ideaForge has by far the largest market share in the security, surveillance, and industrial market for drones. Its customers include the Indian Defence and Homeland Security Forces, who have conducted over 220,000 missions using its drones. ideaForge has a diverse list of industrial customers such as geospatial surveying, mining sectors.
