Article Posted on : - Aug 03, 2011

DRDO has developed 370 kg UAV Nishant. A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): The government does not propose to manufacture small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and private industries are allowed to manufacture and market small UAVs, the Lok Sabha was told Tuesday.

"The government does not propose to manufacture small UAVs of less than 200 kgs. Private industry is allowed to manufacture and market small UAVs," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told Lok Sabha.

Replying to a question on development of unmanned small reconnaissance aircraft, Raju said "DRDO has developed 370 kg UAV Nishant and 800 kg Rustom-I for the Army having endurance of four and half hours and 12-15 hours respectively."

On whether these aircraft will have the capability to evade detection by radars, the Minister said "small UAVs generally have very low radar cross section and may not be easily detectable by radars."

Replying a question on new production units of Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Raju said the company is setting up additional production units in addition to the existing ones at Kanchanbagh, Bhanur and Vishakapatnam.

"BDL has acquired 438 acres of land at Ibrahimpatnam of Ranga Reddy district near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh at a cost of Rs 26.73 crores for the Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORAD) Project. The proposed unit will become operational by 2015," he said.