NEW DELHI: In a major crackdown on the use of Chinese components in defence equipment, the government has scrapped three contracts for 400 logistics drones meant for the Indian Army.
According to sources, a “stringent mechanism” is being implemented to ensure that military drones procured for the armed forces contain no Chinese parts, electronics, or potentially malicious codes.
The cancelled contracts—covering 200 medium-altitude, 100 heavy-weight, and 100 light-weight logistics drones—were signed in 2023 with a Chennai-based company under emergency procurement provisions. The deals, collectively worth over ₹230 crore, were intended to bolster operations along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
These drones were to be deployed amid ongoing tensions following the April 2020 border standoff, when the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) made multiple incursions into eastern Ladakh.
