'Our drone's free from Chinese components', say vendors at 'Him-Drone-A-Thon 2'

Wari La (Ladakh) [India], September 18 : The Indian Army held a two-day 'Him-Drone-A-Thon 2' event at Wari-La in Ladakh with an aim to showcase drone solutions for high-altitude applications. The vendors said that they followed the instructions of the government not to use Chinese components in their drones.
A vendor, Shankha Subhra Mukherjee from MISTRAL XHERPA drone, said, "Earlier we had no regulation for Chinese components. But now a days, chinese components are banned. We can't say that everything is designed by MISTRAL. We depend a lot on the ecosystem: ecosystem partners in the US, ecosystem partners in Europe, Even the Indian ecosystem has become powerful, and in Bangalore we have capabilities, so with the help of these ecosystems, we made our drone."
Further, he added, "We have strictly gone ahead with no Chinese policy. And this was something which was about two years ago. We have designed India's smallest flight controller unit, which is called Eagle Kit. We have not used any Chinese components in my Drone".
Another drone vendor, Zain Saeed Co-founder Enord, said, "We followed guidelines that were recently developed in our defence. Our drone's major components are designed in India, and few components we import from Taiwan.
Another drone vendor and managing director of VECTORWINS Dr C S Murti said, "We have MoU with the Indian Institute of Science, so we manufacture our own components and systems, and the Indian Institute is patented for these products, so we are slowly and steadily gaining self-reliance and local manufacturing of all the components and systems of our drone."
The Indian Army unveiled the 'Him-Drone-A-Thon 2' yesterday to revolutionise high-altitude operations through the use of drones. This pioneering initiative aims to tap into the power of cutting-edge indigenous technology, focusing on enhancing operational efficiency and tactical superiority in some of the most challenging terrains on the planet through the use of drones within the ambit of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The event held on September 17-18 in Wari La, near Leh, where indigenous innovators showcased their development in military technology in high-altitude and challenging terrain. Over 20 indigenous drone manufacturers demonstrated their capabilities in real high-altitude battlefield condition ranging between 4,000-5,000 metres.