Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launches the Mehar Baba Competition–II, aimed at the growing indigenous drone industry

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Air Force Commanders' conference in New Delhi on April 6.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the “Mehar Baba Competition-II”, a contest in the growing indigenous drone industry aimed at developing technology for a “Swarm drone based system to detect foreign objects on aircraft operating surfaces”. The Defence Minister launched the competition during the three-day Air Force Commanders’ Conference (AFCC) that got underway at Air Headquarters, New Delhi, on April 6.

The contest is India’s second competition in the defence sector after the Indian Air Force’s Mehar Baba Swarm Drone Challenge launched in October 2018 that was aimed at encouraging the proprietary design, development, manufacturing and production of low cost, high impact solutions for swarm drone technology for utilisation in varied domains, including disaster relief operations.

Both the competitions are named in honour of the late Air Commodore Mehar Singh, who was affectionately called Mehar Baba.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Conference, Rajnath Singh touched upon the challenges being faced by the Indian Armed Forces on both the northern and western borders and expressed satisfaction at the way the Forces have been able to respond to emerging situations.