Indian Navy’s Israel-made Heron UAV crashed
Indian Navy’s Israel-made Heron UAV crashed at Porbandar in the western state of Gujarat today.
The cause of the accident is reported to be Engine failure. Heron is a medium height long-endurance drone that flies at a height of 35000-45000 feet and can do so for 52 hours at a stretch.
A statement by the Indian Navy has confirmed that there are been no injury or loss of life caused by the drone crash. It also states that though an initial investigation suggests the cause of the crash to be an engine failure, a board of inquiry has been set up to analyse and carry out a thorough investigation and give a detailed report of the cause of the crash.
The investigation of the crash is important as different versions of the Heron UAV are in operation with all three Indian Armed Forces since 2001. In fact, India plans to buy more Heron drones from Israel over the next few years.
The rate of accidents of Herons is 1 percent. India progressively seeks to add more of Herons to its fleet.
The Heron is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the Malat division of Israel Aerospace Industries. It is capable of carrying out operations for up to 52 consecutive hours at a height of 35,000 feet. The drone navigates using an inbuilt GPS device and can perform both pre-programmed flights which require no remote assistance, as well as manual flights using a remote from the ground control station.
