Pune. 26 April 2023. Pune-based robotics startup; Sagar Defence Engineering (SDE) has signed a contract with the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police Department to deliver 84 drone cameras with the aim of addressing their security challenges in the state through the Make in India route GEM portal. The contract is for 84 specialized multicopter (VTOL) drones to be delivered to the company in accordance with the government’s policy of encouraging drone technology to enhance the existing surveillance and security of the nation as well as to assist the police force in defining their plan of action with a pre-survey of the situation and on-demand surveillance with the advanced drone technology. The contract was bagged by SDE at a cost of less than Rs 10 lakh per drone during the reverse auction at the GEM portal to support natively developed drone technologies, where the actual cost of such drones was envisaged to be up to Rs 24 lakh.
These drones are specialized with 60-minute endurance, daylight and thermal imager payloads, along with a megaphone on them for generating awareness, warnings, and announcements, which would immediately increase the police force’s interdiction capabilities and surveillance. Additionally, they can be used for SAR operations at any time of day or night. The drones, which have enhanced capabilities; have also been supplied to the UP Police Special Task Force recently. SDE has a brief history of serving the Mumbai Police with the same drone technology during the critical and crucial times of COVID, where the founder and his team themselves were deployed on the field with the front-line warriors from the police force for two months and thirty days to assist them in controlling the movement of the citizens in Dharavi, Mumbai, making required announcements, and spreading awareness with regards to COVID norms in order to safeguard them.
Captain Nikunj Parashar, Founder and Managing Director of Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt. Ltd. said, “It is an absolute honor for a startup like ours to serve the prestigious Uttar Pradesh Police Department with the delivery of our indigenously developed surveillance and security drones. SDE has been exploring recent technological developments that have paved the way for the creation of advanced autonomous systems, including enhanced autonomy, electric propulsion, and battery capacity. Our products have always proven to be pathbreaking for all the security needs of various security forces, including the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, BSF, DRDO, etc.”
Sagar Defence Engineering has indigenously developed and deployed a one-of-a-kind technology that enables drones to perform autonomous launch and recovery from any moving platform, marine or land. The drones can typically land on the ground and take off from there, but it is very difficult to do so from moving objects like cars, jeeps, tanks, and warships. The drone can fly up to 20 kilometres at once, land on a moving platform at 30 kilometres per hour, and endure winds of up to 50 kilometres per hour. It is equipped with multiple payloads like megaphone and cameras to assist the police force.
