SOURCE: INDIA TODAY
In a major move by the Indian Air Force, Heron drones which so far are being used for recce will now be equipped with missiles to attack enemies. The Indian armed forces operate nearly a hundred of these unmanned reconnaissance planes.
The Heron unmanned aerial vehicles are already in the Air Force, Navy, and the Army and are being used extensively at the moment by both Army surveillance and Target acquisition batteries and Air Force in the Ladakh sector.
But now, after over a decade of service, the Indian government wants these Heron drone to go to the next level. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence cleared a long-pending programme to upgrade these unarmed Heron drones.
India Today has learnt that these drones will be fitted with with laser guided bombs, stand-off air to ground missiles and anti-tank guided missiles — capable of remote precision strike missions.
