Indian Army all set to get first Hermes-900 Starliner drones to boost surveillance capabilities

Defence officials said that to keep an eye on the western border with Pakistan, the Indian Army plans to deploy these drones at the Bathinda base.

Eyeing a major boost to its surveillance capabilities, the Indian Army is set to get the first Hermes-900 Starliner drones on June 18.

Also known as the Drishti-10, the drones are being provided by the Adani Defence Systems to the Indian Army and Indian Navy.

According to a report by NDTV, the defence officials said, "The first of the two drones to be acquired by the Indian Army would be handed over to the force on June 18 in Hyderabad. The supplies are part of the deal signed under the emergency powers given to forces by the Defence Ministry."

According to India Today report, orders were placed for two Drishti-10 drones by the Indian Army.

There were emergency provisions under the order which directed the firm that the systems which were supplied by the vendors must be marked under the 'Make in India' in defence and should be over 60 per cent indigenous.

To keep an eye on the western border with Pakistan, the Indian Army plans to deploy these drones at the Bathinda base, the officials said.

According to NDTV, of the first two ordered drones, the first Hermes-900 drone was delivered to the Indian Navy in January 2024, with the Army taking the second one.

Defence officials said that the third drone will be provided to the Navy and Army will be getting the fourth one.

According to India Today, while the Indian Army is already operating the Heron Mark 1 and Mark 2 drones, the Hermes-900 drones have been ordered under the last tranche of emergency procurements.

The Adani Defence, after it signed a deal with the Israeli organisation 'Elbit' to provide technology for these drones, declared that it had indigenised 70 per cent of the drones.

Jeet Adani, the Vice President of Adani Enterprises said, "...What you see here, this entire platform is more than 70 - 80 per cent indigenised, which means everything is manufactured in this facility that you see over here, along with the vendor ecosystem that we've developed over the last twelve months. In terms of its abilities, it's a medium altitude, low endurance machine. So, it's meant for 1000 miles sort of operational range and as you may have heard the chief of Naval staff talk about it earlier today, what this is primarily going to augment is their anti-piracy and seaborne missions..."

The Indian Army which has inducted more Israeli satellite communication enabled drones, plans to station them in Porbandar to keep a close watch over Pakistan.