Indian Armed Forces are in Process to acquire 91 Israeli Heron MK-2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles this year, according to a report by TimesNow.
The Army will get 2 Indo-Israeli Starliners as part of the emergency procurement plan as will the Navy, which probably plans to have them stationed in Porbandar, Gujarat.
But the UAV deal, which could be the Starliner or the Heron Mark 2 would mean the Indian Army getting 27, the Indian Air Force getting 42 and the Navy, the remaining 22.
If the number does increase to 97, all three will get 1-2 more.
According to India’s atmanirbharata or self-reliance policy, the UAVs can be partly or wholly made in India or at least assembled here.
So, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) or Elbit will have to find an Indian partner for the Rs 30,000 crore deal.
It is still too early to talk about the Indian partner as no decision has been taken, but two possibilities are Hindustan Aeronautics for IAI and the Adanis for Elbit. There can be others as well.
he Heron 2 and Starliner are capable UAVs and can fly for long hours at over 30,000 feet.
Both will be useful for the armed forces.
