April 18, 2015: The DRDO is looking for a newly designed landing gear kit for its recently unveiled Panchi UAV, a wheeled version of the in-service Nishant surveillance drone. Panchi is designed take-off and land from a prepared run way like a conventional aircraft, has a nose landing gear (NLG) and a main landing gear (MLG) consisting of fixed composite struts as part of its airframe. What the developers are looking for is a landing gear kit consisting of wheels, tires and hydraulic braking system, essential to meet the take-off and landing requirement. Interested vendor will be required to design, supply and integrate the landing gear kit with the existing nose and main landing gear while meeting the requirements of landing loads, braking distance etc. for smooth operation of the aircraft. DRDO has stipulated that vendors should have prior experience of supplying and/or developing similar items for other UAVs/light manned aircraft. Vendor will be required to design and supply six sets of the Landing Gear Kit. The Panchi UAV, identical in all respects to the rail-launcher deployed Nishant UAV in terms of range and payload, will operate from runways, including unprepared surfaces and has found interest in the Army and paramilitary forces already.