THE IAF RELEASES AN RFI FOR MINI - UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM FOR SECURITY OF IAF BASES

The Ministry of Defence, Government of India, intends to procure approximately Quantity: 100 Mini Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) For Security for IAF Bases along with associated equipment.

Mini UAS Characteristics

*Role: Surveillance, reconnaissance and detection during day and night

*Launch and Recovery mode : Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) from a minimum size clear area.

*Aural Signature: Aural signature to be minimum.

*Payloads carrying capability : Should have capable to carry electro Optic (EO) for day and Thermal Imager (TI) for night, one at a time. If the capability exists to carry both payloads simultaneously, it is to be specified.

*Flight Modes: (i) Fully Autonomous Vertical Take Off, landing, Hover at defined waypoints. (ii) Autonomous waypoint navigation. (iii) Remote Piloted mode for video based navigation by the operator.

*Endurance: 60-90 min or more with all payloads

*High Altitude Requirement: 4000 m (above mean sea level) launch altitude for Qty: 5 UAS

*Range of operation: 7- 10 km line of sight.

*Operating wind Conditions: for Take-off, Landing and Operations, 20 knots/ h or more

*Failsafe features: Return to Home on communication failure or low battery

Payload Characteristics / Specifications

*Payload:

(i) Electro Optic (EO)

(ii) Thermal Imager (TI)

*Payloads and Video Stabilization: Quality of Video should not be affected by UAS vibrations/movements

*Electro optic (EO) Daylight Payload:

(i) Colour Camera with 360° Pan and 90° tilt control, good optical and digital zoom.

(ii) Should be able to detect Human size target at 1000m or more

*Thermal Imager (TI) Night Payload:

(i) Thermal Camera with 360° Pan and 90° tilt control with good resolution and optical zoom

(ii) Should be able to detect human size target at 500m or more

Ground Control Station (GCS) characteristics

*GCS should have a latest applicable MIL-STD and water/ dust resistant design for the flexibility to work freely in nearly any environment. Display screen to be anti-glare and should be readable in sunlight.

*Computing Hardware: Toughbook

*Keyboard & Input: Touch screen/ roller

*Battery Operation: Minimum 3 hours at peak utilization and detachable.

*Battery charging time: Should be less than 3 hours

*Data portability: Ports for data transfer to external secondary storage devices.

*GCS Application Software

(i) Geographic Map along with UAS location, UAS trajectory, camera view polygon, waypoints and flight plan.

(ii) Real-time video from the UAS with on-screen display of important parameters like UAS coordinates, target co-ordinates and range from UAS, true North indication etc.

*Map Formats: Should be able to work with Google Maps, application should have capability to download maps after specifying location GPS co-ordinates

*Payload Controls: Selection and switch on/off of payload, Pan/Tilt/Zoom Controls and recording on/off.

*Video: Video Should be recorded in any commonly portable video formats (AVI, MPEG, MP4 etc.)

Communication Link

System should operate on preferably on license free band. For controller, communication protocol MAV Link protocol or equivalent for integration with IAF network.

General System requirements

*Assembly/ Disassembly time: Less than 10 minutes each.

*Life of Mini UAS: The Total technical life of mini UAS should not be less than 1000 landings.

*Portability and Operations: The Mini UAS should be light in weight capable of being carried and operated by two men.

*Battery: The battery pack should have the back up of minimum 2 hrs. The battery to be preferably COTS make.

*. Battery Charger: Suitable universal battery charge

*Accessories: Field Repair kit, Spare batteries, propeller sets, Landing Gear

*Body Material. The UAS, including the ground station, laptop and remote control must be water proof and should not be susceptible to corrosion. The material used for the UAS must be sturdy and light weight.

*Booting Time. The entire system must have a short installation and booting time.

Additional Safety Features.

Following safety features needs to be incorporated for safe operation of the UAS by the security personnel:-

(i) Default Climb. The UAS must make a direct default climb to at least 30 m from its ground position to clear all ground obstructions, before commencing movement in the any plane. Subsequently, the UAS may descent depending upon profile requirement.

(ii) Collision Avoidance Feature. The UAS preferably be equipped with a proximity sensor that will warn and prevent inadvertent collision with any building or structure. (iii) Rotor Failure. In case of a mechanical failure of the rotor, the UAS must be able to land relatively safely

*Anti-Jamming Feature. The link between UAS and the ground stations preferably operate on a high and jam-proof frequency band or higher in order to make it less susceptible to jamming.