NEW DELHI: A Gujarat-based deep-tech drone company has delivered “hundreds of kamikaze (suicide or self-destruct) drones” to Indian Army as part of a Rs 10 crore contract with the defence ministry.The contract with Surat-based InsideFPV was signed last Dec, and the consignment of drones was sent to the Army within a two-month timeframe via emergency procurement route. The exact number of drones delivered to Army’s Northern Command was not disclosed by the company for security reasons.Recognised as a pioneer in FPV (first person view) and kamikaze drones, InsideFPV focuses on systems designed for GPS-denied zones and extreme environments. An FPV drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flown using specialised goggles that receive live, real-time video feed from an onboard camera, making the pilot feel as if they are sitting inside the drone.Arth Chowdhary, CEO of InsideFPV, said, “Our kamikaze and FPV systems are engineered specifically for India’s harshest deployment environments, functioning reliably in temperatures as low as -35°C.”“The drones dispatched to the Army are for kamikaze attacks and have waypoint control (automated navigation method), multi-step safety mechanism and a detonation trigger,” the company told TOI.The Rs 10 crore rapid-execution contract reflects a larger trend of govt increasingly favouring domestic manufacturers that can deliver precision unmanned systems quickly and in volume.
