Eyes in the sky: DRDO's Bharat drones to boost army's surveillance missions over Chinese activities along LAC

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has provided indigenously-developed drones called ‘Bharat’ to the Indian Army amid the ongoing boundary tensions at LAC between India and China. The drones are sent in order to conduct accurate surveillance along the Line of Actual Control in high altitude and mountainous terrains of Eastern Ladakh, ANI quoted defence sources as saying. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Bharat, has been developed by Chandigarh-based laboratory of the DRDO. Projected to be among ‘world’s most agile and lightest surveillance systems’, the drone has been developed indigenously by the DRDO. The “small yet powerful drone works autonomously at any location with great accuracy. The unibody biomimetic design with advance release technology is a potent combination for surveillance missions”, according to DRDO sources. The UAV was made in a way to ensure its survival in extreme cold weather temperatures. With transgression by the Chinese troops along the LAC as the major challenge, the drone also provides real-time video transmission during the mission and can detect humans hidden under deep forest covers. It has been equipped with advanced night vision capabilities and its stealthy design ensures that its signature remains undetected from enemy radars. It is gaining a lot of popularity because it can operate in swarm operations, sources said. “The drone is capable of providing real-time video feed as well as still images to its operators and its controlling software has built-in artificial intelligence tools for analysis and decision-making,” Tribune quoted a senior DRDO as saying. “Besides the armed forces, it also has the potential for being used by the Central Armed Police Forces and law enforcement agencies,” he said. Bharat has been designed entirely by DRDO’s Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), which is involved in development, production, processing and characterisation of different high-explosive compositions, fragmentation studies of warheads, captive flight testing of bombs, missiles and airborne systems and ballistics evaluation of protective systems like body armour, vehicle armour and helmets. Meanwhile, as the tensions between the two countries grew, the Indian Army has deployed six T-90 Bhishma missile-firing tanks and top-of-the-line shoulder-fired anti-tank missile systems in the Galwan Valley sector in June. Considered as the main battle tank for the Indian Army, it has a capability to deal with chemical and biological weapons and can fire 8 shells in 60 seconds. With inputs from ANI