Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC) would soon have advanced facilities for drone testing. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the defence ministry, five PSUs and a private entity ‘EndureAir’ to establish advanced testing facilities for drone technology within the UPDIC. HAL, BEL, GIL, YIL and BEM are the defence PSUs, while EndureAir is the only private entity.
One of these facilities is dedicated to Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), which will be in Technopark IIT Kanpur. “The establishment of a UAS testing facility at IIT Kanpur would ensure easy accessibility to all end users and at EndureAir we hope to leverage this infrastructure to build world-class high-performance UAS solution,” said Abhishek, Co-founder of EndureAir.
“We look forward to contributing to the growth of the defence sector and supporting the vision of a self-reliant India,” he added.
The Indian UAV industry today faces challenges of space, to test advanced drones. These facilities provide advanced infrastructure for rigorous testing of unmanned aerial systems, ensuring they meet the highest standards of performance and reliability for the Indian Army.
UAS for defence applications, particularly in higher weight category would need to be certified as per international standards. The new facility would enable sub-system level testing to ensure the high reliability of the system, which would help open foreign markets.
The emerging UAS companies that are looking to establish their manufacturing plants in Uttar Pradesh would receive a boost through this initiative by helping them get timely certification for their products, said a press statement from EndureAir.