India to get new Israeli Heron drones; will be deployed at Ladakh & LAC to monitor China

In a new development strengthening India's capability of surveillance along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indian Armed Forces are expecting to receive advanced Heron drones from Israel for keeping a close watch over China in the Ladakh region and other areas along the LAC. The Indian Forces are soon going to receive four drones despite the delays and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

ANI citing sources have stated that the new drones are more advanced than the Herons Indian Forces have currently and the anti-jamming capability of the new drones is much better than their previous versions.

New Heron Drones to be acquired via emergency powers

The sources have further added that the acquisition of these drones has been done under the emergency financial powers granted by Central Government to the defence forces under which they can buy equipment and systems worth Rs 500 crore to upgrade their warfighting capabilities, amid ongoing border conflict with China.

Apart from the Heron drones, several other smaller drones are also being acquired from the US to give the Battalion level troops on the ground an edge against the adversaries.

These acquisitions have come in view of the violent face-off which occurred last year between the armies of India and China in the Galwan valley in Eastern Ladakh. 20 Jawans of the Indian Army were martyred in the faceoff whereas over 40 casualties were reported on the Chinese sides as per the international intelligence reports. Although the talks between India and China on the disengagement continue to be held, these acquisitions come as a great boost to India's capabilities in guarding its borders.

The Indian Armed Forces have been taking these initiatives to acquire weapon systems to gain an edge in the disputed regions with China. The last time this kind of facility was given in 2019 to the defence forces after the Balakot airstrikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan. The Indian Navy has also leased two Predator drones which have been taken from American firm Defence Manufacturing firm while the Indian Air Force had used the same facility to acquire a large number of anti-tank guided missiles, long-range precision-guided artillery shells along with the Hammer air to ground standoff missiles with a strike range of around 70 kilometres.

The Heron Drones are Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial system (UAS) developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for strategic and tactical missions. These drones have been used by India for several years. According to reports, the drones can fly at a stretch for more than two days for surveillance from an altitude of more than 10 kilometres.

(With ANI inputs)