India's Plan for Homegrown Military Drones Stumbles as Companies Look Abroad

India's ambitious plan to develop its own advanced military drones is facing unexpected hurdles. The Ministry of Defence's (MoD) efforts to boost domestic production through a private-sector partnership model appear to be stalling as some Indian companies show a preference for collaborating with foreign manufacturers.

The MoD's drive to involve the private sector follows setbacks in the state-run Tapas drone program, which suffered from delays and technical limitations. Seeking fresh solutions, the MoD proposed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) model to tap into private sector expertise and speed up the development of High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

However, initial enthusiasm for the program seems to be waning. Industry sources suggest the MoD's proposal hasn't sparked significant interest among Indian private companies. Instead, some companies seem focused on partnerships with international Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

Possible reasons for this preference remain unclear. The complexity of HALE UAV development may make Indian firms hesitant without established partnerships, seeking the expertise and resources of experienced foreign companies. Tata, for example, seeks to convert a German business jet into a drone platform, while Adani Defence reportedly eyes an Israeli drone design as a base.

This reliance on foreign collaboration casts doubt on the MoD's vision of a truly indigenous HALE UAV program. While partnerships can offer benefits, they raise concerns about long-term dependency on foreign technology and potential limitations on knowledge transfer.

India's efforts to create a robust domestic drone industry hit a snag, highlighting the challenges in fostering self-reliance in advanced military technologies. To make the SPV model a success, the MoD may need to find further incentives for Indian companies to invest in homegrown research and development, even while carefully considering the benefits of select foreign partnerships.

 

[Tanishq Bafila]

Indian private players want easy way out , they will buy from outside and they just manufacturing here. As outside systems are all working systems across many countries, their will no chance of failure . But its one type of import only where you re just assembly here.
Private industries are fearful about HAL ability , they know if this indigenous drone don't live up to the expectation of Indian forces, then they will not give orders and their investments will become zero.
HAL will survive with failures as its a government backed entity but what about private players.
Problem here is that If government gives some incentive to private players like TATA, ADANI , then some people will say government is giving money to Ambani Adani...all these sorts of thing...
Government players like HAL are not ablet to deliver and private players are not getting empowerment due to fear of politics.
Its messy situation here for India.

Forget UAV , Tejas mk1A is win for India & DPSUs , knowing that AMCA & IMRH will be also follow the steps of Tejas program , private sector companies are not joining SPV .

Government is giving funds for developments of prototypes , still they are not interested...

What else they want , sometimes you do less paid paid jobs in the initial phase of your career to gain expertise, and then with that knowledge you reach heights...

But major Pvt sectors companies aren't interested ( Not all private sector companies others are doing great jobs )

 

[Tanishq Bafila]

Put conditions for 100 percent indigenous manufacturing in steps will solve the issue of knowledge

No company will giving 100% TOT , even 100% indigenous takes years of active production line & orders...

Rather than asking for 100% indigenous manufacturing put a condition that after that batch you have improve indigenous content & improve the performance the next batch on your own , otherwise face penalty

 

[Anant]

These projects like AMCA, IMRH and HALE drone are committed. After investing so much in R&D there is no way the armed forces would not acquire them.

The Armed Forces will acquire them, no doubt. However, are we anywhere near an order size or order timeline? Private players need to be given a proper RoI. If you order double the aircraft twenty years from now as opposed to if you ordered them today, that may still be a worse deal.

 

[Pink Panther]

Adani is behind this.

Adani can only copy (Screw Drive) foreign drones, who won’t invest on research.

 

[AK S]

There is nothing to imagine. The military conducted the tests in Indian conditions so there is really nothing to hide lies.

Tapas performed much better than rebadtched Drishti in payload and endurance and most likely the new benchmark of forces will change accordingly. Unfortunately Tapas was mired in controversy on account of inter-departmental rivalry. Ultimately program was sabotaged quite a bit and no longer receives fund under mission-mode. You don’t need enemies.

Navy will induct, Let’s see

 

[Akshat]

Tapas performed much better than rebadtched Drishti in payload and endurance and most likely the new benchmark of forces will change accordingly. Unfortunately Tapas was mired in controversy on account of inter-departmental rivalry. Ultimately program was sabotaged quite a bit and no longer receives fund under mission-mode. You don’t need enemies.

Navy will induct, Let’s see

Tapas performed much better…according to whom? Who conducted any user trials?