Tethered Drones
A tethered drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) tethered to the ground.
It consists of a base station on the ground and the drone, which is connected to the station through the tether (cable).
The drone can be operated remotely to perform specific tasks.
Tethered UAVs are perfect for data capture and telemetry due to the reliability of tethered connections.
Tethered drones dramatically reduce technical and human error crashes in flight.
Tethered drones provide a secure line of communication between the ground station and the aircraft.
It also does not require GPS navigation.
Many tethered drones have longer flight times compared to free-flying, battery-operated drones.
Due to the restricted movement of a tethered drone, the operator does not need piloting skills and can mainly focus on their tasks.
Why it is in news?
The Indian Army has signed contracts for the procurement of 130 tethered drones and 19 tank-driving simulators under Emergency Procurement (EP) and they will be delivered in 12 months.
In the last three years, in the backdrop of the stand-off in Eastern Ladakh, the Army had concluded a series of contracts with Indian start-ups for small drones for surveillance and load-carrying.
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