India Tops List Of Drone-Importing Nations

NEW DELHI:The decision by India's National Disaster Response Force to use drones to help Nepal map the scale of devastation caused by last month's earthquake indicates how India has enthusiastically taken to these pilot-less aircraft - the so-called eyes in the sky.

With 22.5 per cent the world's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imports, between 1985 and 2014, India ranks first among drone-importing nations, followed by United Kingdom and France.

UAVs, or drones as they are commonly known, are pilotless aerial vehicles used for reconnaissance, surveillance, intelligence gathering and aerial combat missions.

The advantage of UAVs is that they come at a fraction of the cost of manned aircraft with no risk to human lives. The data here relate to drone/UAV transfers (imports/exports) between countries. There are also drones that have been indigenously developed, so the actual number of UAVs possessed by each nation may be different.

A total of 1,574 UAV transfers have taken place across the world between 1985 and 2014. Of these, 16 are armed UAVs, according to data provided by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an independent global conflict-research institute.

UAV trade recorded an increase of 137 per cent between 1985 and 2014. The period between 1985 and 1990 saw sales of 185 UAVs globally, which increased to 439 between 2010 and 2014. Egypt and Italy are among the other large importers. The last decade also registered sales of 16 armed UAVs.

India's first UAV delivery came from Israel in 1998. The UK, on the other hand, imported its first UAV in 1972 from Canada. But Japan was the first country in the world to import a UAV, it got one from the US in 1968.

India's UAV imports, have almost all been from Israel, according to SIPRI data. Of 176 UAVs, 108 are Searcher UAVs and 68 are Heron UAVs. Israel is the leading exporter of drones, accounting for 60.7 per cent 1985 and 2014.

The US, with a 23.9 per cent of UAV exports, ranks second, followed by Canada with 6.4 per cent. Israel shipped has shipped 783 drones since 1980.

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