The features of these drones enable them to gather critical intelligence and conduct surveillance missions in urban areas, dense forests, and mountainous regions, where rolling proves advantageous.

Rooster drones, indigenously developed devices that can roll as a robot and fly as a drone, will be handed over to the Northern Command of the Indian Army at an event at Gandhinagar-based Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) on Friday.

Enabled by GPS, three surveillance drones have been developed in collaboration between Hyderabad-based firm Brane Services, the Indian Army, and RRU.”

“The drone draws its name from roosters that spend most of their time on the ground. They can also fly and perch atop a building or a tree. Each drone is enclosed in a frame which helps it not only in taking off vertically and land, but also roll on the ground. It also has cameras, and can land on top of a building or a window sill and quietly capture the details. So it is more useful than its counterparts like a quadcopter,” said Colonel Kanvaljit Singh (retired), the acting director of the School of Internal Security, Defence, and Strategic Studies (ISDSS) at the RRU.

“These three drones can be operated by a single controller. The range of a single drone is 400 meters. The other drones in this set can be used as a relay station to achieve a total distance of 1,200 meters. Very importantly, the source code of the software used in these drones is indigenous and not with a foreign player,” he said, adding that the drones have enhanced versatility and maneuverability on various terrains and are expected to be an improved version of their Israeli counterparts.The idea to develop these drones took life after a visit by then Chief of Army Staff MM Naravane to the RRU in April 2022. He discussed a new rooster drone technology being developed by a foreign manufacturer. “The Army Chief had then said that this technology is of great use to security forces operating in closed spaces like a jungle or an area with buildings,” Colonel Singh told The Indian Express. RRU had floated an Expression of Interest (EoI) and selected the manufacturer from a group of three firms.

The Hyderabad-based firm has developed the software and the hardware of the drones which is part of a pilot project. A team of Indian Army officers have also been trained to handle the drones. “RRU does not have the operational environment to test these drones. So the Indian Army will carry out field trials and put the equipment into a rugged test. Based on their feedback, further improvements will be done to hardware and software,” the official added.

The features of these drones enable them to gather critical intelligence and conduct surveillance missions in urban areas, dense forests, and mountainous regions, where rolling proves advantageous.

The enhanced data transfer capacity of these drones ensures seamless communication between the drone operators and command centres.

The capability facilitates real-time transmission of high-quality video feeds, images, and other sensor data collected by the drones. The improved data transfer capacity enables faster decision-making processes and enhances situational awareness for military personnel on the ground.

The development is part of the agreement the varsity has with the Indian Army. RRU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Army in November 2021 for collaboration in training, education, research, and capacity building. Subsequently, similar MoUs were also signed with the Air Force and the Navy.

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

First published on: 02-11-2023 at 00:56 IST