February 19, 2021: The Indian Army is purchasing $20 million worth of Switch VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) UAVs from Ideaforge, an Indian firm that needs the sale to stay in business. Ideaforge was founded in 2007 to develop and manufacture commercial quad-copter and other lightweight commercial UAVs. From the beginning the idea was to sell to the Indian government, which has a very aggressive “buy Indian” policy and will pay more for Indian made items than comparable or superior foreign-made models. The Switch UAV is a good example. It is a 6.5 kg (14.3 pound) battery powered UAV that looks like a fixed wing UAV with four propellers. It has VSTOL capability because the four propellers can switch between two modes; one for propelling the UAV like a conventional fixed wing aircraft, and the other to perform like a quadcopter. Switch has endurance of 120 minutes and can operate up to 15 kilometers (line of sight) from the operator