Sridhar Babu Unveils First Indigenously Manufactured Drishti 10 UAV for Indian Navy
Hyderabad: IT and industries minister D. Sridhar Babu on Wednesday took part in the unveiling of the Drishti 10 ‘Starliner’ Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the country’s first indigenously manufactured UAV for the Indian Navy.
Developed by Adani Defence & Aerospace, the UAV was unveiled at the company’s defence and aerospace centre in Shamshabad in the presence of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Hari Kumar, Indian Army Aviation DG Lt Gen. Ajay Kumar Suri, Adani Enterprises vice president Jeet Adani, and Adani Defence and Aerospace CEO Ashish Rajvanshi. Union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt took part in the event virtually.
The UAV is an advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform that has 36 hours of endurance. The Drishti 10 ‘Starliner’ has a 450-kg payload capacity and is an all-weather military platform with ‘STANAG 4671’ certification with clearance to fly in both segregated and unsegregated airspace. The UAV that left from Hyderabad for Porbandar will be inducted into naval maritime operations.
Addressing the gathering, Sridhar Babu said that the aerospace, aviation and space industries were a thrust to Telangana state.
“Telangana has over 1,000 MSMEs in aerospace and allied sectors, and the state periodically hosts supply chain events with OEMs to onboard local MSMEs into the global aerospace supply chain. The state has attracted multiple repeat mega-investments from global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, GE Aviation, Safran, Rafael Advanced Systems, Elbit Systems, etc.,” Sridhar Babu said.
He said Telangana won the biennial best state awards for aerospace from the Union civil aviation ministry thrice in a row (2018, 2020, and 2022).
Babu said Hyderabad ranked first in the Financial Times FDA global rankings as well and was recognised as the most cost-effective aerospace city of the future, citing Adani Group’s decision to set up its first defence centre in the city.
Hailing Adani Group’s track record, he said the firm has exported over 20 UAV systems to international markets.
“Adani has been playing a critical role in the Indian defence sector… They are planning to ramp up investments and allied capabilities in the state in defence and aerospace manufacturing,” the minister said, promising that the state government would extend all support, including creating a level playing field for the state’s development.
