The GIDS Uqab (lit. ''GIDS Eagle'') is a tactical unmanned reconnaissance

aerial vehicle An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

built and developed by the Global Industrial Defence Solutions (GIDS) for the joint drone program of the

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Qur'an, 3:173'') , type ...

and

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

. The Uqab is a tactical system which can be used for damage assessment,

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

operations, artillery fire corrections, and can perform other variety of security and military operations. Influence from the design of SATUMA Jasoos, it was developed by the GIDS and its

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

were upgraded by the NeScom to meet requirement for the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. Uqab is designed for executing the

's joint missions, where nearly ~30 Uqabs have been inducted in

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

's drone program while one squadron is active in

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

's drone program.

Development

Development began in 2007 on the basis of the United States' drone program and the contract was awarded to Global Industrial Defence Solutions (GIDS). The Uqab's features a strong resembles from the AAI RQ-7 Shadow, which at one point were being offered by the US to Pakistan. The Uqab program was designed for

's drone program and it took its first

flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

on 20 March 2008. In the

's drone program, the Uqab has been used for the battle damage assessment, aerial reconnaissance, artillery fire correction, joint forces operations,

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

missions, coastal area surveillance, route monitoring, internal security, mob control and flood relief operations. The Uqab program eventually expanded from

with combined Army/Navy team managed by the Navy's drone program in 2011. The

's ran several trial based operations with the management from the

before commissioning the drone program of its own. During its trial phase, the Navy's Uqab drone crashed inside the premises of the National Oil Refinery located in

Korangi Town Korangi Town ( sd, ڪورنگي ur, ) lies in the eastern part of the city that was named after the locality of Korangi. Korangi Town was formed in 2001 as part of The Local Government Ordinance 2001, and was subdivided into 9 union councils. ...

. Major electronics upgrades were performed by the NeScom for the before Uqab joined the Navy's drone program. On 20 July 2011, Uqab was inducted in Navy's drone program and commissioned a ground base located near the Mehran Naval Base. Uqabs usually flown from a runway strip for take-off and landings like normal aircraft. A proper command and control mechanism installed in a truck that records the feedback sent by the drone comes along the Uqab system.

Ground Control Station

Ground Control Station is a truck mounted air-conditioned, insulated container which is equipped with standard, ruggedized consoles.

Characteristics

*User friendly mission planning and execution *Mission de-briefing & simulation *In-flight mission re-programming *Flexible waypoints entry & editing during flight (direct from map & keypad) *Mission parameter & flight data logger for post flight analysis & simulation *Real time video and telemetry data *Moving map software *Geo-referencing *Easy payload (camera) controls *Separate consoles for mission commander, UAV pilot & payload operator *Easy to read displays and gauges *Standby control links (redundancy) *Back-up power supply

Export

Pakistan has attracted serious interest Uqab unmanned air system (UAS) from Bahrain and other countries in Asia and Africa, according to company officials, Potential Uqab customers include the UAE, Indonesia, Turkmenistan and Egypt.

Accidents

An Uqab UAV of

crashed in an oil refinery in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

when the UAV hit a bird on 2011.

Specifications

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References

{{Reflist Unmanned military aircraft of Pakistan Science and technology in Pakistan