New Delhi: A RFP for proposals in two-stage bid (Technical & Commercial) at CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) for “Joint Collaboration in R&D, Manufacturing and Commercialisation of 150 kgs Category Loitering Munition” from the Indian aerospace and allied engineering companies.
Loitering munition (LM) UAVs have become popular in the recent conflicts all over the world due to their distinct advantages over missiles and other aircraft. These UAVs combine the features of both UAVs and missiles. As loitering munitions can loiter around a particular area in the enemy territory for a long duration till they detect the targets. Role of Loitering Munition UAVs in the suppression of enemy defence has been proven in the recent past.
As per the published news articles, India has recognised the role of LMs in the operational/tactical battle space and is gearing up to induct approximately 1000 LM UAVs to meet immediate operational requirements. The Air Force has already begun the induction of LMs HAROP LM UAVs manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
Indian armed forces are also encouraging Indian defence industry under Make-II projects to take up similar projects. Motive behind this proposal is to develop indigenous LM UAV to replace the foreign imports.
In the proposed development, the Loitering Munition UAV is going to be powered by CSIR-NAL developed Wankel engine. The indigenous LM UAV shall be designed to carry an approximately 15 kgs of warhead and 10-15 kgs of suitable sensing payloads. It is aimed to have contemporary performance characteristics such as loitering endurance of 6 – 9 hours with a maximum range of 900 kms. The overall weight of the LM UAV to be restricted below 150 kgs.
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