India seeks 1000 surveillance copters for Army, cites volatile situation along Pakistan, China borders

To meet the Indian Army's surveillance needs, the government decided to expedite the procurement of surveillance copters to meet the urgent operational requirements. 

Representative Photograph

The Defence Ministry has issued a Request for Proposal for purchasing 1000 surveillance copters for the Indian Army with accessories through a fast-track procedure under emergency procurement.

According to the government, emergency procurement was necessary due to the current dynamic, volatile situation along the northern borders and Line of Control, which warrants seamless surveillance. 

To meet the Indian Army's surveillance needs, the government decided to expedite the procurement of surveillance copters to meet the urgent operational requirements. 

According to government officials, the undue delay is adversely impacting the capacity and preparedness of the Indian Army.

Officials said that the surveillance copter would provide aerial surveillance capability and sustained point surveillance to the Indian Army. The surveillance copter is an ideal multi-sensor system to carry out real-time reconnaissance day and night and surveillance of an area of interest. 

The system will provide identification and accurate location of adversary’s build-up, high-resolution imagery to enable target detection and movement of troops and vehicles during border management tasks and active operations.

Requirements

Each surveillance copter should not weigh over 10 Kg but should be suitable to withstand high altitude strong wind currents and gusts up to 12-14 knots. It should have one colour day video camera, one monochromatic night thermal sensor and two spare batteries. 

The copter should be able to operate up to an elevation of 4000m Above Mean Sea Level and at a minimum of 500m above ground level. It should be able to operate in fully autonomous, manual, hover and return home modes.