Indian Air Force, IAI To Upgrade 150 UAVs

The Indian Air Force and Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) will join hands to upgrade UAVs from all three services under a project worth $ 958 million. The country’s armed forces currently operate a fleet of 150 UAVs procured from IAI. Under the Rs 5,000 crore projects, we will upgrade the capabilities of the UAVs in all the three services with the help of the original equipment manufacturer IAI,” a senior IAF official was quoted as saying. About 100 Searchers operate along the western, eastern and northern borders of India while the IAF operates Searcher II and Heron UAVs for recon and surveillance. Once the upgrades are complete, the air force will be able to use the aircraft for far-off missions and control them through satellite communication system. The Army, with a sizeable number of aircraft, began inducting the first UAVs in the 90s, the IAF followed suit with the acquisition of the Searcher Mark I, Searcher Mark II and the Heron UAVs. The Navy has three UAV squadrons deployed along both the eastern and the western sea board.