THE MIRACLE OF MEHAR BABA

Air Cmde Mehar Singh DSO MVC (1915-1952),

“… heart of a Bengal tiger, stamina and guts of a Punjabi bull and flying ability of a Himalayan Eagle…”

To know more about “Mehar Baba”, Click Here

On October 23, 2021, the former Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal (ACM) BS Dhanoa PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM (Retd.) delivered a talk on the Topic “Air Power inThe East: A 1971 Story” during the Swarnim Vijay Varsh (SVV) celebrations held at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, Bangalore. The very next day, i.e. on October 24, 2021, he was present when the Mehar Baba Swarm Drone Competition winners were announced.

His presence at the prize distribution ceremony was befitting, as he had pioneered the unique competition’s roll-out. He had provided the necessary impetus, having first announced it on October 03, 2018, as a part of the 86th AF Day celebrations. The competition had been named after the legendary Late Air Commodore Mehar Singh DSO MVC.

At the time I had written about the possible impact it could have on our own indigenous Rotary-UAV programme.

The Tweet by PM & Response by MoS MoCA

The current focus on Drones started with a tweet by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, post his visit to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, on November 13, 2017. He had tweeted:

“I was shown drones that could be used in the agriculture sector and help farmers“.

The Minister of State for civil aviation Shri Jayant Sinha had responded with a tweet stating: “our new drone policy will enable all these valuable solutions.” (Read More Here)

This exchange and the subsequent follow-up action resulted in the announcement of the Mehar Baba Competition. The process and the evaluation has continued since then till the announcement of the prize winners on October 24, 2021 even though the branding changed from the “Make in India” call to the “Atmanirbhar” one. The direction, however, remained virtually unchanged.

For exciting details of the Mehar Baba Competition, you may read the article here ( focus on the references).

Mehar Baba Prize: Keynotes

The Mehar Baba competition aimed at bridging the perceptible Civil-Military divide by awarding innovativeness in the field of “Military Applications of a Drone Swarm”. The competition was held in three distinct phases. In the first phase, 154 applicants were registered, and the committee of experts evaluated their proposals. Of these, a total of 54 were shortlisted and were given 20-25 Lakh each to come up with the stated solution. However, of these, 54, only five made it to the final round. These were then awarded Rupees 2.5 Crore and competed for the final prize.

The Committee of experts included Prof S Sundaram, Dr JC Bansal, Mr. Angad Singh, Gp Capt Naval Jagota, Gp. Capt Sagar Paranjpe VM, Gp Capt Vishwanath, Wg Cdr J Adityakiran, Wg Cdr Sarang Vashisht, Wg Cdr Shiben Bairo & Wg Cdr Sandeep Debnath.

VEDA Defence Systems Pvt. Ltd was given a special award for Best Innovation & Design.

A total of three Winners of the Mehar Baba Swarm Drone Competition were announced for different architectures.

New Space Technologies Pvt. Limited was awarded for the Best Swarm Architecture.

Delhi Technological University (Flair Unmanned Systems) was adjudged to have the Best Communication Architecture.

Dhaksha Unmanned Systems Pvt. Ltd (Anna University) bagged the award for the best Drone Architecture.

One of the key highlights of the address by the current IAF Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari during the award ceremony was the intention to continue with the yearly competition.

With a successful rollout of the competition and the results accrued in the form of producing a Drone Swarm solution with “… the heart of a Bengal tiger, stamina and guts of a Punjabi bull and flying ability of a Himalayan Eagle…” the legend of Mehar Baba continues to inspire generations following his footsteps to perform miraculous deeds for the defence of this great nation of ours.