Page 3 - Drones

BSF shoots down drone along India-Pakistan border in Amritsar village

The Border Security Force has shot down a drone that sneaked into the Indian side from Pakistan in Punjab's Amritsar district, officials said on Tuesday. The BSF personnel fired at the drone on Monday night after they noticed it entering the Indian territory near Chaharpur village, around 40 km north of Amritsar city, they said. During the search operation, the BSF recovered a partially-damaged hexacopter, an unmanned aerial vehicle with six rotors. A suspected item in a white-colour polythene was also attached underneath it, according to the officials. The drone is suspected to be carrying a drugs payload and its contents are being ascertained, an officer said. "Alert troops of BSF once again were able to capture a drone and foil smuggling attempt," a spokesperson for the force said. On November 25, the BSF troops had also shot down a Pakistani drone near the international border in Amritsar.

Pak army using Chinese drones to crush rebellion in Balochistan: Report

According to reports, the Pakistani Army deployed jets against Baloch nationalists in the highlands of Bolan in Balochistan.

Drone hits Israeli-linked tanker; Iran frees 2 Greek tankers

An oil tanker associated with an Israeli billionaire has been struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman amid heightened tensions with Iran, officials said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Greece said Iran freed two Greek oil tankers held by Tehran since May. The drone attack on the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon happened on Tuesday night off the coast of Oman, one Mideast-based defence official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorised to discuss the attack publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Pacific Zircon is operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. In a statement, Eastern Pacific Shipping said the Pacific Zircon, carrying gas oil, had been hit by a projectile some 150 miles (240 kilometres) off the coast of Oman. We are in communication with the vessel and there is no reports of injuries or pollution. All crew are safe and accounted for, the company

Amazon unveils new Prime Air delivery drone, to enter service in 2024

The new drone will undergo rigorous evaluation by national aerospace authorities like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to prove its safety and reliability

Artificial intelligence, drones to fight pollution; CAQM okays 7 projects

The Centre's air quality panel on Thursday said it has approved seven projects which involve the use of drones for real-time air quality monitoring and artificial intelligence for counting of vehicles. Other projects include installation of air purification systems in a market place in Delhi and retrofitting air cleaners in buses. The projects are under supervision of different technical and academic institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said in a statement. CAQM has decided to tap the technical/academic expertise of the reputed scientific institutions working in the field of air pollution for a joint and augmented approach towards prevention, control and abatement of the menace of air pollution in Delhi-NCR, it said. The approved projects will focus on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tool for counting of vehicles, addressing vehicular

Centre grants permission to Kempegowda airport in B'luru on drones' usage

Earlier, on October 31, the airport authority had sought permission for use of drones for the said purposes

Iranian minister acknowledges supplying drones to Russia for first time

Iran's foreign minister on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones, insisting the transfer came before Moscow's war on Ukraine that has seen the Iranian-made drones divebombing Kyiv. The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian come after months of confusing messaging from Iran about the weapons shipment, as Russia sends the drones slamming into Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets. We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war, Amirabdollahian told reporters after a meeting in Tehran. Previously, Iranian officials had denied arming Russia in its war on Ukraine. Just earlier this week, Iran's Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani called the allegations totally unfounded" and reiterated Iran's position of neutrality in the war. The US and its Western allies on the Security Council have called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate if Russia has used Irani

Bees and drones give wings to farmers

Areas where drones are making their presence felt include seed propagation, pesticide spraying, yield prediction, land records, insurance assessment, and crop monitoring

Iran violating UN Security Council ban on drone transfers, says Ukraine

Ukraine has accused Iran of violating a UN Security Council ban on the transfer of drones capable of flying 300 kilometers and invited UN experts to visit the country to inspect Iranian-origin drones being used by Russia against civilian targets. A letter from Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and members of the UN Security Council was obtained by The Associated Press ahead of a closed council meeting late Wednesday requested by Britain, France and the United States on Iran's sale of hundreds of drones to Russia. US Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that the United States will join Britain and France in raising the issue at the council meeting. Kyslytsya tweeted on Wednesday that the issue of Iranian drones used against civilians and civilian infrastructure will also be raised at an open council meeting on Ukraine on Friday. Russia is believed to have sent waves of Iranian-made Shahe

Extensive proof Russia using Iranian drones in Ukraine: US State Department

A US State Department spokesman has claimed there's enough proof that Russia is using Iranian drones against both military and civilian targets in Ukraine

Ukraine War: What are Kamikaze drones deployed by the Russian military?

As Russia has unleashed a wave of Kamikaze drones on Ukraine for the second time, let's understand what is this weapon and how does it work

MS Dhoni launches made-in-India 'Droni' camera drone for farming solutions

Indian cricket star Mahendra Singh Dhoni has launched the made-in-India camera drone named 'Droni' with advanced features manufactured by Garuda Aerospace

Asteria Aerospace gets DGCA's micro category drone certification

Asteria Aerospace Limited on Thursday announced that it has received India's first micro category drone type certification for its indigenously designed A200 drone from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The A200 drone was found to be fully compliant with the Certification Scheme for Unmanned Aircraft Systems notified in January 2022, the full stack drone technology company said in a statement. "Asteria's A200 drone has been developed for surveying and mapping applications in GIS, agriculture, construction, mining and other industries," it said. The A200 drone is a rugged, reliable, and performance-driven multirotor drone that weighs less than two kg and has advanced features including automated take-off and landing, multiple fail-safes, single pilot operation, tool-less assembly and disassembly, and a flight time of up to 40 minutes, according to the statement. The DGCA categorises drones based on their weight. Drones with an all-up-weight of 250 gm to two kg fall .

BSF opens fire at Pakistani drone spotted in Punjab's Gurdaspur sector

BSF troops opened fire at a drone from Pakistan along the International Border in Punjab's Gurdaspur sector on Tuesday, officials said. Border Security Force (BSF) troops heard a buzzing sound of the flying object in the early hours and opened fire, officials said. Search operations have been launched in the area to check if any packages were dropped by the drone in Indian territory, they said.

Drones to keep an eye on 10,000 power transmission towers in MP from Oct 1

The state-run Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company Limited (MPPTCL) is going to deploy drones to monitor 10,000 high voltage towers in the state beginning October 1, a senior company official said on Monday. "This is for the first time in the country that drones are going to be used to check tall towers for smooth power supply, MPPTCL Managing Director Sunil Tiwari claimed while talking to PTI. He said drones will take videos and close range pictures of the towers. Currently, the inspection of towers is being done manually. Employees climb the towers to check the equipment and this process is very time consuming and laborious. Now, drones would do this work, he said. The benefit of using the drone technology is that we can take photographs and video of the equipment installed on the towers closely from all sides, the official said. Tiwari said they decided to deploy drones after their use for inspection on an experimental basis for some months showed encouraging results. The

BSF spots Pakistani drone near International Border in Punjab; opens fire

A Pakistani drone was spotted near the International Border in Punjab's Gurdaspur early Monday morning

250 drones dazzle in air at India Gate to celebrate Netaji's legacy

A swarm of drones lit up the night sky over India Gate complex on Friday showcasing the life and legacy of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose and celebrating the newly-unveiled grand statue of Netaji, a senior official said. The drones took to air in phases and made eight different formations. "A total of 250 drones will be used, and the last formation will be of the new grand statue unveiled by the Prime Minister on Thursday. The drone show will depict the life and legacy of Netaji," the senior official of Culture Ministry told PTI shortly before the show began. The show started around 8.35 pm and lasted for 10 minutes. People tried to capture the moments on their mobile phone cameras, some moved around while many lay on the lawns to enjoy it. Earlier, as dusk fell over the skyline of Central Vista, a team of engineers and technicians were busy hooking up the connection in a grid of drones that was assembled in a lawn near the India Gate. "The Netaji drone show was done by the s

Domestic drone industry in Uttar Pradesh gets 'Make in India' push

According to reports, India's drone sector is projected to clock a turnover of Rs 12,000-15,000 crore by 2026

Centre proposes amendment in export policy for certain types of drones

The Centre has proposed an amendment in its export policy for certain types of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), dropping the requirement to receive authorisation

Russia running into technical problems with Iran-made drones, says US

Russia has faced technical problems with Iranian-made drones acquired from Tehran this month for use in its war with Ukraine, according to Biden administration officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. intelligence assessment, did not detail the numerous failures." They added that the U.S. assesses that the delivery of Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles over several days this month is likely part of a Russian plan to acquire hundreds of Iranian UAVs. The Associated Press reported last week that Russia had recently obtained hundreds of Iranian drones capable of being used in its war against Ukraine despite U.S. warnings to Tehran not to ship them. The Washington Post first reported that Russia has faced technical problems with the Iranian drones. Russian operators continue to receive training in Iran on how to use these systems, which can conduct air-to-surface attacks, electronic warfare and targeting, on the battlefield