Leh/New Delhi: The Indian Army has ordered for nearly 700 Trinetra drones, the Indianised version of an American product used by the US Department of Defense and the Ukrainian military, to beef up its surveillance capabilities in forested areas of Jammu and Kashmir and high-altitude areas, ThePrint has learnt.
The drones, originally developed by Silicon Valley startup Skydio, have been “Indianised” by a local firm at its Coimbatore facility, AeroArc managing director and founder Arjun Aggarwal said.
Aggarwal said that his company will cater to not just the Indian market but also that of Asia Pacific.
“Trinetra is an indigenised and Indianised version of the drone. There are considerable components that have come from India. It has been Indianised because we have unique scenarios in India. We have weather extremes, from -40 degrees to deserts where the temperature goes above 55 degrees. We have heights in which most countries don’t need to operate,” the AeroArc MD and founder told ThePrint in an interview at HimTech, an exhibition organised by the Leh-based 14 Corps last week in conjunction with the Army’s Northern Command.
So these have been “Indianised” to meet specific requirements, he added.
Aggarwal said that these drones can automatically navigate through obstacles without the operator having visual line of sight because the system processes everything on its own, based on its six cameras. “It also has two thermal cameras that can identify anyone hiding under a canopy.”
The US Department of Defense operates 22,000 of these drones, he said.
“The numbers are growing extensively year on year. The drone has been very successful in Ukraine. There, we have been able to secure orders in numbers that I cannot reveal but these are phenomenal numbers. They are serving the Ukrainian army in a GPS denied environment and electronic warfare tactics by the Russians,” he said.
In April, The Wall Street Journal reported that Skydio had sent hundreds of its best drones to Ukraine to help fight the Russians but things didn’t go well. “Skydio’s drones flew off course and were lost, victims of Russia’s electronic warfare. The company has since gone back to the drawing board to build a new fleet,” it reported.
Finding the American drones too expensive, glitchy and hard to repair, Ukraine has turned to cheaper Chinese products to fill its drone arsenal.
“The general reputation for every class of U.S. drone in Ukraine is that they don’t work as well as other systems,” Skydio chief executive Adam Bry was quoted as saying and he called his own drone “not a very successful platform on the front lines”.
Since then, Skydio has worked with the Ukrainian authorities.
In July, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin posted on social media platform ‘X’: “Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Skydio drones have been instrumental in gathering evidence from over 80 shelling sites and more than 100 damaged civilian structures across Ukraine”.
Since the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion, Skydio drones have been instrumental in gathering evidence from over 80 shelling sites and more than 100 damaged civilian structures across Ukraine.
At our meeting with the @SkydioHQ team, led by CEO Adam Bry (@adampbry), CRO… pic.twitter.com/lpIRlJe2Og
— Andriy Kostin (@AndriyKostinUa) July 25, 2024
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Delivery of robotic mules completed
For AeroArc, Trinetra is its second product that has been inducted by the Indian Army.
The Army has already inducted 100 robotic MULES (Multi-Utility Legged Equipment) in the shape of dogs, which will be deployed for surveillance, and to carry light loads through steep and uneven terrain.
As reported by ThePrint in June, these robotic dogs are equipped with thermal cameras and other sensors, which enable them to carry out surveillance. They can also be integrated with small arms, and can engage with an enemy without putting a human life at risk, if needed. It can also be used to carry small loads to frontline soldiers,
“This is a co-development with an American company called Ghost Robotics. It was developed by an Indian based out of the University of Philadelphia,” Aggarwal said.
China has already inducted robotic dogs into its military. In May, the Chinese army unveiled its newest recruit—a gun-toting robot dog, demonstrating the military’s technological foray to replace humans with machines in combat situations.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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