Indian Army Successfully Tested ‘Made in India’ Drones For Essential Items Delivery

April 20, 2021: The Indian Army has successfully tested a new beyond-visual-range drone for autonomous delivery of load over Punjab. The test was conducted for the delivery of essential items during the current challenging Covid-19 times.

The army used three ‘Made in India’ drones over three villages of Abohar in Fazilka district in the southwestern part of Punjab to deliver essential items like sanitizers, masks, and medical canisters, according to a report by Defence Aviation Post. They coordinated with the district administration to conduct the tests. These operations can be carried on a bigger scale by leveraging more drones and by augmenting their endurance and payload too. The Indian army has reportedly used bigger drones for surveillance as well.

The three villages of Gobindgarh, Balluana, and Malikpura fall beyond the visual line of sight range from the base and so these tests were thus the first-of-its-kind in our country. Accurately releasing the payload was reportedly a very important part of the operation. The drones flew over the marked dropping zone, descended to a suitable height, and finally released their payloads.