BENGALURU: Bengaluru-based start-up Newspace Research and Technologies Private Limited was among the three firms that won the “Mehar Baba Swarm Drone Competition” conducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
IAF Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Sunday, October 24, 2021, presented awards to Newspace Research and Technologies Private Limited (Best Swarm Architecture), Team Delhi Technological University-Flair Unmanned Systems Private Limited (Best Communication Architecture) and Dhaksha Unmanned Systems Private Limited from Anna University, Chennai (Best Drone Architecture), at IAF station, Yelahanka, Bengaluru.
A total of 154 teams had registered for the competition conducted in line with the central government’s “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” initiative. The competition was named after Late Air Commodore Mehar Singh, a legendary pilot who was the first to land in Srinagar with his Dakota aircraft in 1948 with Indian troops. The IAF provided mentoring, compensated the design and development cost of the prototypes.
Demonstration
Wing Commander KR Srikant of the Team Dhaksha said, “The drones are capable of identifying targets and striking them. The payload carrying capacity will depend on the mission requirements. The drones have been tested up to 100 km, and have the endurance to fly for over three-and-half hours.”