The South African National Defense Force (SANDF) has said it is deploying hand-launched unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to its peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UAV has been dubbed Indiza and was developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was displayed during Exercise Phirima 3 held on 21 March at Potchefstroom. It was designed to provide final combat readiness for 2 South African Infantry Battalion’s deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Indiza is a hand-launched two meter span, rugged mini-UAV that can fly for over an hour at distances of up to 10 km using a brushless electric motor powered by a lithium battery pack. The UAV can be fitted with a number of generic camera pods, including day and night cameras.
Indiza’s ground-based equipment consists of a laptop with data link modems and optional tracking antenna system to extend the range and improve the communication quality of the video and data links.
