WHAT'S THE FUSS ABOUT DRONES!!!

Introduction

Recently, you all might have followed the news that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, went on a state visit to the United States of America. The visit was of great importance to both the nations but the big highlight of the visit was the massive $3 Billion predator drone deal for our defence. On the same timeline, there was an Indian Drone Company's IPO ("ideaForge Technology Limited") which was subscribed over 106 times.

All this fuss about drones made me wonder exactly why is it that, drones are making all the headlines. Sure drones are of great importance in defence but other than that, all I know is drones are used for filming videos, especially by YouTubers to give an aesthetic and cinematographic look to their videos. As far as I remember, drone taxis are under trial but other than that, I knew nothing. So this made me curious to learn more about drone technology and the Drone industry. There's a lot to share with you guys. Right from drone technology, its application in various industries, and the economics of the drone industry to the geopolitical importance of each aspect of the drone industry. Each and everything is important, so it's not possible to cover everything in one article. There will be a series of articles over the next few weeks, which will cover the respective topic in detail.

So in this article, we will discuss an overview of drone technology and its uses in various industries not in detail, (for this there are various industry reports which are mentioned in the reference) but briefly, we will touch upon the points so that readers are at least ahead than average people who know nothing about it.

History and Evolution of Drones

When were drones invented or when did the idea of unmanned aerial vehicles surface? If I ask this question, most people would have given answers dating to the 1980s or 1990s or early 2000s, even I was one of them before I researched its history. The early concept of drones dates back to the mid-19th century i.e. ( around 1850). The drones were also used in both world wars but the drones which you see today are a result of ongoing research and development from the end of the 20th century. The advancements in materials, electronics, software and communication technologies have played significant roles in the evolution of drones. Ongoing research and development continue to push the boundaries of drone capabilities opening up new opportunities and challenges in areas such as autonomous flight, swarm technology and long-range Operation.

Types and Classification

Well, I could have discussed fixed-wing, multirotor and hybrid drones but I don't want to make this article more technical and make the readers a little uncomfortable and also I feel that I am not the right person who will be able to give justice to the technical aspect of drones. If my readers want to know more about the technical classification and types of drones, I can ask my friend to write a piece of article about it and, I will share it with you guys.

Applications and Technological advancements in various Industries

Apart from the uses of drones mentioned by me earlier in the article. I was astonished by the scale of development and its varied uses in varied industries. Below are some of the key sectors and how drones are providing an edge in the respective sectorial work.

Defence

India's drone journey which began more than two decades ago, deploys one of the largest fleets of military drones in the world. The predator drones just strengthen India's position in defence but currently, the technologies which drones use in the defence sector are primarily developed by Western nations. Longer flight times, improved range, quality cameras and intelligent systems as drone offerings are changing the landscape of warfare by providing better surveillance, reduced cost, reduced human capital loss, and increased convenience. Drones change the economics of warfare as drones which cost tens of thousands of dollars can precisely attack and incapacitate heavy artillery worth millions of dollars.

The way kamikaze attacks i.e. (Suicide attacks) were carried out by Japanese special attack units during world war II, in which 3,800 kamikaze pilots died. Could now be replaced by drones which can do this suicide mission without any human capital loss to the aggressor side and are also very efficient as they deceive the most advanced air defence systems in the world.

Similarly, air drone technology has advanced to develop underwater sea drones that can even operate without human operators (AUVs). The navies of multiple advanced countries are currently creating Unmanned vehicles to be used in oceanic warfare to discover and terminate underwater mines.

To sum up, the importance of drone technology in the defence sector. Let's hear it up from the horse's mouth. The Indian military decision-makers believe that "Drones will be increasingly used in all sorts of combat in future, both by the state and non-state actors" and therefore needs to be factored in all "plans" for military action. Such emphasis on technology, particularly on Unmanned weapon systems, has led to a belief that weapons have been "overtaken by disruptive technology."

Surveillance and Public Safety

Drones provide high-performance aerial vision providing a real-time video feed, in the daytime as well as night via advanced payloads. Drones provide an easy way to get a bird's eye view of large areas. These days drones are also equipped with advanced analytics capabilities such as target detection, target tracking and moving target indicators.

Similarly, with these advanced analytics capabilities, drones are of great help for crowd monitoring, traffic management, beat patrolling etc. In a country like India, where the population enhances the scale of management,?the use of drone technology and trying to utilize its potential for safety becomes necessary and in such huge crowds, there are usually elements of nuisance that try to create disharmony and strife among people. New technologies like facial recognition software and a wide range of computer applications made possible by high-speed broadband wireless systems have substantially expanded the capabilities of law enforcement.

If you want to emphasize public safety, then forest fires are a topic of great concern. With the increasing temperature of the earth due to global warming, the number of forest fire incidents, all over the world is increasing. The recent case is of Canada's forest fire, whose smoke and dust-covered New York's skyline and made it to the headlines.

The forest fires usually start small and then with time, exponentially increase their destruction periphery. Such things can be avoided if drones are used to extinguish the fires. Drones, by using thermal imaging technology can properly check whether the water coming from the nozzle of the hose is hitting the fire.

Even now if you see, whenever the visuals of forest fires emerge we usually see helicopters spraying a large amount of water over the fires but the efficiency of this method is still in question because they are not able to stop the widespread destruction of forest fires and if you compare the economics of helicopter and drones then helicopter can only be used to curb fire in wealthy countries as the cost runs in hundreds of thousands of dollars whereas drones can provide half the utility of helicopters with less than 1% of the cost.

Also, drone usage while firefighting goes beyond putting fires out in areas that are tough to reach. Search and rescue is the other case where drones are increasingly finding their place.

Passenger

Passenger drones (also called air taxis, flying cars, eVTOL, etc) will be used to transport passengers over short and medium distances flown manually, remotely or automatically. Passenger drones do not require a runway for landing due to vertical take-off and landing (VTOL).

Commuters will benefit from drone-led faster intra-city and inter-city transportation. These drones are battery-powered, making them capable of running on renewable energy sources. Passenger drones can also be employed for special operations, including search and rescue, and emergency supply delivery. air ambulance transport and fire rescue.

The US Army is already considering using drones for Medevac of soldiers from the battlefield and it will not be long before unmanned air taxis become the norm. It is also said that manned flights will be soon replaced by unmanned flights as the technologies mature at breakneck speed and all passenger and cargo aircraft will be optionally piloted. A pilot will be taking over the command and control during the flight if at all there is a need to do so. While considerable research is being done by aerospace majors such as Airbus, Thales and Boeing for the next-generation UAV technologies involving air taxis, countries such as UAE have taken the lead to implement the technology in their urban environment.

Conclusion

Well, now I guess you all are familiar with the timeline of the evolution of drones with the advancement of technology and capabilities of drones in various industries like defence, surveillance, public safety and passenger. There were two more sectors, about which I wanted to write eagerly as they are the backbone of our country i.e (Agriculture and Infrastructure) but this article itself has been a long one so I decided to continue it in my next article because drones can change the way, traditional agriculture which has been carried out over the centuries and the same can be said for in the case of Infrastructure.

Stay tuned for my next article and hope to see you very soon. Thank You.

Reference

ideaForge investor relation industry report - https://ideaforgetech.com/investor-relations/industry-report

Observer Research Foundations articles

https://www.orfonline.org/research/fast-tracking-the-flight-of-indias-drone-industry/

https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/drone-attacks-not-just-a-tech-problem/

https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/drones-in-smart-cities-55717/