India sends newly assembled MALE UAVs to Israel
Adani-Elbit has become the first company to manufacture the Hermes 900 MALE UAV outside of Israel. (Photo: Adani Defence and Aerospace)
All three main branches of the Indian Armed Forces have been looking to enhance the number UAVs in their inventory.
The first private UAV manufacturing facility in India has delivered more than 20 Hermes 900 medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAVs to Israel, Shephard has learnt.
Hyderabad-based Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India Ltd, a joint venture company between India’s Adani Defence and Aerospace and Israel’s Elbit Systems, became the first entity to manufacture the UAVs outside of Israel.
The UAVs were delivered complete with carbon composite aerostructures manufactured at the 50,000 sq. ft Adani facility in Hyderabad.
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Manufacturing of the UAVs took place under a transfer of technology agreement “and strict supervision by Elbit Systems” which has a 49% share in the joint venture. Shephard also learnt that the Hermes 900 kits were sent to India by Elbit, along with tools including sensors and engines for assembly. The partnership has provided Israel with additional military support as it continued its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
Maritime and land versions of the Hermes 900 have also been supplied to the Indian Navy and Indian Army. The UAVs recently delivered to the Indian Navy have been renamed Drishti 10 Starliner but have the same configuration as the Hermes 900. Plans have been put in place to indigenise the UAVs with training underway for the Indian Navy by Adani officials.
The Indian Navy Drishti 10 drones will be placed in Porbandar along the coast of the Arabian Sea in the western state of Gujarat and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Over the past two months days, at least 35 ships have faced drone attacks in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
In early January 2024, Indian Navy chief Adml R Hari Kumar commented: “Autonomous systems are increasingly becoming a preferred choice in the Order of Battle for nations globally.”
The Indian Army will receive its first of two initial land versions of Drishti 10 in late February or early March, a Ministry of Defence official said. The UAVs will likely be in placed near the Pakistan border in Punjab. The army, which has Heron Mark-II drones in its inventory, has planned to upgrade its fleet of Heron Mark-I drones.
As the delayed indigenous MALE UAVs Rustom-2 of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) continued with flight trials, the Indian Army has requisitioned 60 more UAVs, the Indian Air Force 12 and the Indian Navy four. It has not been made clear whether these orders could head towards the Adani-Elbit joint venture.
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