Indian Army receives new Heron drones from Israel; to be deployed for surveillance at LAC

To keep an eye on the Chinese activities in the on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along the Arunachal Pradesh border, the Indian Army's surveillance capabilities have received a major boost as Israel has delivered advanced Heron drones under the emergency procurement clause.

Government sources were quoted by ANI saying, "The advanced Heron drones have arrived in the country and are being deployed for surveillance operations in the eastern Ladakh sector."

The Israel-manufactured Heron drones are capable of operating for nearly 45 hours at an altitude of up to 35,000 feet as tensions escalated with China's People’s Liberation Army. Long-endurance Heron TP drones were bought from Israel earlier in August for surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and as per the reports, the Indian Army planned to upgrade it with combatant missiles for precision strikes under Project Cheetah. The two nations have their troops deployed in forwarding areas for the second consecutive tough winter ahead as the standoff continues into the 19th month.

"These drones are currently operational and are far more advanced than the Herons in the existing inventory and their anti-jamming capability is much better than their previous versions," the sources said.

"The acquisition of these drones has been done under the emergency financial powers granted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to the defence forces under which they can buy equipment and systems worth Rs 500 crores to upgrade their warfighting capabilities, amid ongoing border conflict with China," they added.

India-China LAC standoff

The eastern Ladakh border standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops has been ongoing since May 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas. Both sides had gradually enhanced their military deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers along with heavy weaponry.

The tension escalated after a deadly clash took place in the Galwan valley in June last year, killing 20 Indian soldiers. After a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in the north and south banks of Pangong lake in February and in the Gogra area in August this year. However, the last round of military talks on October 10 ended inconclusively.

On Thursday, India and China agreed to hold the 14th round of military talks at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement in remaining friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

(With ANI Inputs)