The Drone Federation of India and the Technology Development and Acceleration Cell of the Naval Innovation Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) under the Indian Navy have teamed up to promote domestic research, development, testing, and manufacturing of drone, counter-drone, and related technologies for the Navy.
In order to achieve component indigenization, the Navy and the drone industry organisation will improve the synergy between the military, business, and academics, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
“A special maritime drone testing site shall also be earmarked for the Indian drone industry to facilitate faster development and testing of drones, especially in maritime environments thus enabling development for a host of applications,” the statement added.
As part of this understanding, programmes for skill development and sensitization will also be implemented.
“TDAC has been working towards accelerating the development of indigenous technologies to be utilised by the Indian Navy. Our collaboration with the Drone Federation of India will help us in developing a deeper industry connection as well as help us create a stronger roadmap for induction of drone platforms in the Indian Navy in a time-bound manner”,said Indian Navy Cmdr. A. P. Golaya, VSM, OiC TDAC.
The Drone Federation of India is an industry-led, non-profit, non-governmental organisation that supports the drone sector by fostering economic opportunities, building a strong infrastructure for talent development, establishing standards, and encouraging R&D activities.
“It is a proud moment for the Indian drone industry to have established a partnership with the Indian Navy to build and test superior drone platforms,” said Smit Shah, President, the Drone Federation of India in the statement.
The development of adaptable and dependable drone platforms for cutting-edge maritime use cases like maritime patrol, drone landings on moving ships, ship-to-ship deliveries, and ship-to-shore deliveries will be accelerated, according to Shah, who noted that the maritime testing site being built as part of this initiative.