The Indian Army (IA) has leased four Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Heron TP medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for potential deployment near India's disputed border with China, along the Line of Actual Control (LoAC) in the Himalayas. Official sources told Janes on 15 February that the lease for the unarmed UAVs was signed in mid-January under the 'emergency powers' granted by the federal government to India's military chiefs in June 2020. These powers are intended to speed up the acquisition of materiel needed to overcome equipment shortfalls amid ongoing military tensions with China. The IA and India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) declined to comment on the lease for security reasons, but the New Delhi-based Security Risks Asia defence management consultancy claimed the contract is worth an estimated USD200 million.
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