India’s defence research agency (DRDO) has developed an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) specifically for anti-terrorist and counter insurgency operations.
The 1.5 kg UAS, called ‘Netra’, is a collaborative development project between ideaForge, a company formed by a group from the Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, alumni and Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) (R&DE),one of the Defense Research and Development Organization’s Pune-based labs.
The NETRA is a small light weight man-portable UAS which can be launched from a small clearing by the roadside and made to fly over the area of interest at a height of up to 300m AGL and it will send continuous real time video of every movement on ground. One can observe every activity within an approximate area covering a circle of 4 km diameter. “Zoom in” provision will enable identifying human activity up to 500 m away from the UAS where the UAS itself can fly upto 2 km distance from the take-off point.
The salient features include a completely autonomous flight mode, which means, the vehicle flies on its own and returns on its own to the home base after completion of the mission. It is so user friendly that anyone can operate it within a few days of training. It has both day and thermal cameras to operate in daytime and pitch dark conditions respectively. The Failsafe systems ensure that it comes back home even if communication breaks down or when the battery which powers the system starts depleting.
All the video coverage is saved by default and within minutes of landing the data can be downloaded into CDs for dissemination.
Sources: iHLS, Web Site