NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has placed an order for 225 First-Person View (FPV) drones, following competitive evaluation and field trials that included operations at altitudes of up to 17,500 feet. The order comes as the force remains in the middle of a wider modernisation and transformation drive, and it stands out less for its size than for the conditions under which the systems were tested. The drones were assessed on endurance, accuracy, speed and other functional requirements, including performance in the demanding high-altitude environments relevant to military operations.The need for such systems is clear along the Line of Actual Control with China and the Line of Control with Pakistan, where troops operate at altitudes ranging from 12,000 to over 18,000 feet in the Himalayas and the Siachen Glacier. These conditions degrade both human performance and conventional equipment. The Army has already deployed a layered drone strategy, from small tactical units such as the Ashni platoons to larger long-range Battlefield Air Support battalions. Supplying remote forward posts has traditionally depended on foot soldiers, mules and ageing Cheetah helicopters, and air sorties are costly, weather-dependent and slow. Drones offer a faster, cheaper and safer alternative. Facing the digitised air defence and surveillance networks along the LAC also calls for a modern, agile and unmanned response.The terrain makes this a hard engineering problem. At 15,000 feet, atmospheric density drops by roughly 40 to 50 percent, leaving propellers with less air to grip and sharply reducing lift and thrust. Motors, which rely on airflow for cooling, run hotter and can burn out under heavy load, so operators need larger or higher-pitch propellers or higher-KV motors, which push up power consumption. Cold compounds the problem. Lithium-based batteries slow down in freezing temperatures, causing voltage sag, and a battery that gives six minutes of flight at sea level may manage only two to three minutes at such heights. Batteries must be pre-heated before launch and insulated in flight. Jagged peaks and ridges also block radio signals, causing sudden video or control blackouts, while stray radio noise can interfere with sensitive FPV receivers.The army has been engaging domestic drone manufacturers in the high altitude environs of Ladakh and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. The extreme terrain served as an authentic test bed for validating performance. Special focus has been lai laid on logistics and FPV categories, and the exercise allowed the Army to shortlist a number of products for potential procurement while recommending improvements and modifications for others.Drones are playing a growing role in modern conflict, as seen in Ukraine and Israel, across surveillance, logistics, precision strikes and communications. Against that backdrop, the Army’s order reflects a growing emphasis on field-tested indigenous drone systems that can operate in some of the toughest terrain in the world.For Aerodrone Robotics Pvt Ltd, the firm which will be delivering the aerial systems works in the military unmanned aerial systems segment and has developed combat, surveillance and logistics platforms, along with operator training and technical support. It describes its platforms as military-hardened, with software developed in-house, an approach meant to give greater control over configuration and allow the systems to be adapted to specific operational needs, pushing the envelope of Atmanirbharta in the field.
