The Indian Army is going to take a big step to further strengthen its firepower. The ministry has selected Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) and Nibe Defense for the supply of ‘Loitering Munitions’ (Kamikaze Drone) in a tender worth Rs 1,600 crore for the Army. Under this tender, the Army will get 840 modern drones with a range of 100 kilometers.
Who got how much order?
In this big deal, Tata has emerged as the largest bidder (L1) and Nibe Defense has emerged as the second largest bidder (L2):
* Tata Advanced Systems: Tata has got 64% of the total orders. Under this, Tata will supply its completely indigenous ‘ALS Series’ loitering system.
* Nibe Defense: 36% of the order has gone to Nibe Defense’s account. For this, NIBE will supply ‘Vayu Astra’ drone, which is actually a rebranded version of ‘SkyStriker’ of Israeli company Elbit Systems.
Defense sources were quoted as saying that Tata Advanced Systems has emerged as the lowest bidder (L-1) and is expected to supply 64 percent of the army’s requirement. The report further states that Nibe has emerged as the second lowest bidder (L-2) and will supply the remaining 36 percent of the loitering munitions.
Delivery will start in 6 months
This entire deal is being done through the ‘fast-track’ route. Under this, both the companies will have to start delivery of drones within the next 6 months. These drones will be used for the newly created ‘Drone Artillery Regiments’ of the Indian Army, so that highly accurate and long-range attacks can be carried out on enemy targets.
Mixed version of Make in India
Here Tata’s system is completely Indian (indigenous), whereas Nibe’s drone is based on Israeli technology. This will be designed as a hybrid level of domestic development in defense procurement.
Leave a Reply