PESHAWAR: The engineering faculty of a private university in Peshawar on Thursday successfully exhibited a rescue drone. The remote-controlled light-weight plane was flown for several minutes at the height of a few thousand feet in a demonstration.

A group of six engineering students at the Sarhad University took up the project and were able to fully build the unmanned plane in six months.

“The idea behind taking the project was to basically tell the people that drones are not always a bad thing. People usually think of drones as a plane capable only of destruction. We aim to deliver the message that drones can also be used for peaceful and fruitful purposes,” Project Head Engineer Anisur Rehman told media.

He highlighted the fact that the project was a low-cost one at only Rs100,000, compared to the expensive drones being designed by companies over the world.

Weighing a total of 2.5 kilograms, the drone can fly up to a height of seven thousand feet and can be controlled with the help of a remote controller within a thousand-meter range.

“For better navigation and control, we have also installed a GPS system in the plane.”

Pakistan has been progressing towards building unmanned aerial vehicles since the Pakistan Army had introduced its first ever fleet of drones in November 2013.

Read: Pakistan introduces fleet of locally-developed drones.

Dawood Khan, one of the engineering students who took part in the project shed light on future prospects for the device.

“If the government works on the project further, the rescue drone could easily be utilised as a rescue plane or even an air ambulance,” he said.

Take a look: Drones: Made in Pakistan.