UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

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vimal
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Re: UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

Post by vimal »

Rustom-II UAV crosses important milestone, will be up for production in two months
NEW DELHI: India's indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) programme Rustom-II achieved an important milestone in its development cycle and has moved a step forward towards production stage.

Dr. Satheesh Reddy, Secretary R&D and DRDO Chairman said, "The indigenous Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) development programme by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has crossed a milestone by reaching an altitude of 25,000 feet and an endurance of 10 hours".

The tests are expected to be completed in next two months and then it will be handed over to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for production, told Dr Thomas. Rustom-2 has been designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE).

Informing about the future plans, a programme for the improved, more capable, High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAV is also in the works, said Dr. Thomas.
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Post by Kakarat »

DRDO successfully conducts Flight-Test of Indigenous Aerial Target ‘Abhyas’ -PIB
DRDO successfully conducted the flight test of Indigenously developed High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) Abhyas today from Integrated

Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast, Odisha. During the flight trial, High subsonic speed trajectory at a very low altitude with high endurance was demonstrated. Two boosters provided initial acceleration during launch and a small turbo jet engine is used to sustain high subsonic speed with long endurance. The indigenous data link designed by Bengaluru based Industry partner has been successfully flown and tested during the flight.

The performance of the system during the entire flight duration has been confirmed from the data captured by various Range instruments deployed.

Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), bengaluru based DRDO laboratory along with other DRDO laboratories has developed this indigenous unmanned aerial target system to meet the requirement of aerial targets of Indian Armed Forces. The aircraft is controlled from a ground based controller and an indigenously developed MEMS based Inertial Navigation System along with the Flight Control Computer which helps it to follow the pre-designated path in a fully autonomous mode.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh said that the successful test is noteworthy testimony of synergy between scientists and industry.

Secretary DD R&D & chairman DRDO complimented scientists of the laboratory, their team members and associated industry partners for the successful development efforts.
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Video https://twitter.com/i/status/1474041068211490825
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Post by VinodTK »

Army looks to buy precision kill systems with 120 loitering munitions to detect, kill targets

From: moneycontrol
The Army is looking to procure 10 sets of medium-range precision kill system (MRPKS) -- comprising 120 loitering munitions -- for its artillery units to detect, engage, strike and destroy static and moving targets with precision.

Loitering munitions are effectively unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV), popularly known as drones, which can continue to loiter in air close to the designated target, when directed, attack it by self-destructing into it.

A Request for Information (RFI) published on Wednesday by the Army stated that the weapon systems, which will also come with 10 launchers, 30 forward observation stations, should be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured in India under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020—the sole manual guiding all capital procurements for the Indian military.

Once launched, the munitions should be able to “loiter” in the air and provide real time imagery on the target to the operator on ground. On the detection of the target, the loitering munition carrying a warhead should be able to strike it with precision, thus reducing collateral damages, the RFI stated.

The MRPKS, the RFI said, should be able to hit targets with precision in day and night operations and in all-weather conditions.

Indian vendors who qualify on the technical, commercial and project requirements of the EoI will be issued a project sanction order to develop a prototype of the system.
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jaysimha
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Re: UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

Post by jaysimha »

Ministry of Defence
MoD surveys 17.78 lakh acres of Defence Land in a little over three years using modern surveying technologies
One of the largest such land surveys and Initiative of Digital India helps in quick decision making
Posted On: 09 JAN 2022 10:23AM by PIB Delhi
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1788667
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Sources: PIB & linkedin
Rakesh
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Re: UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

Post by Rakesh »

Indian firm gets foothold in prized global ‘kamikaze’ and armed drones market
https://theprint.in/defence/indian-firm ... et/806722/
19 Jan 2022
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Post by Vips »

As stand-off with China continues, Army orders more India-made drones for LAC surveillance.

Enthused by the performance of indigenous high-altitude tactical drones procured last year to keep an eye on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the Army has placed a fresh order for an advanced version with its manufacturer, an Indian start-up, ThePrint has learnt.

Sources in the defence and security establishment said that a fresh contract was signed recently with ideaForge for the advanced version — with higher endurance and additional technical features — of SWITCH tactical drones that are being used by Army’s special forces and infantry.

The sources said that delivery of the entire set of drones, meant for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), ordered from the Mumbai-based firm in January last year, has been completed and is being extensively used in Ladakh, where India and China are in a military stand-off since May 2020.

They described it as a “force multiplier technology” and pointed out that instead of soldiers physically being out in the bitter cold, patrolling every single point, the drones will be the eyes on the ground.

Besides tactical drones, the Army has also increased surveillance all along the LAC by bringing in larger Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), like the regular Israeli Heron and a set of four advanced Heron 2, procured last year.

The Indian military is also carrying out surveillance through satellites and using specialised aircraft, like the P8i of the Indian Navy.

‘Testament of SWITCH’s class-leading capabilities’
However, it was for the first time last year that the Army had inducted specialised indigenous drones for surveillance.

The Mumbai based ideaForge had won the contract last year following a competition with Israel’s top UAV manufacturer Elbit, besides the Tata Group, Dynamatic Technologies Ltd and VTOL Aviation.

The sources remained tight-lipped about the value of the new contract or the number of drones ordered. The 2021 contract was valued at about $20 million (around Rs 140 crores) and was the first high-value drone contract received by an Indian firm.

Reached out, ideaForge CEO, Ankit Mehta confirmed the new order and said it is “a testament of the class-leading capabilities of SWITCH 1.0, exhibited not only during the product trials against a dozen global players, but also in the operational environment”.

Asked about the delivery schedule, he said the additional order will be within set timelines as well.

“We are thrilled by the Impact Created by SWITCH UAVs in serving our nation and maintaining the sovereignty of Indian territory,” he said.

In November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had formally handed over SWITCH UAVs to the Indian Army.

Long-range target detection, HD optical zoom payload
As reported by ThePrint, the standard man portable SWITCH weighs 6.5 kgs and is capable of vertical take-off, like a helicopter, with an endurance of two hours, even in high altitudes with low temperatures, high winds and low density of air.

The drone can be carried on the back of a soldier and deployed. It is capable of carrying out surveillance up to 15 kms, can be launched from altitudes of 4,000 metres, and has a maximum operating altitude of 1,000 metres with a wind resistance of up to 10.8 knots or 20 km per hour.

The new drones ordered by the Army are an advanced version, with extended endurance and cover 700 sq km from each take-off point. It also comes with encrypted communication and long-range target detection, with an HD optical zoom payload.
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Post by jaysimha »

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1795761
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
One District One Product (ODOP) mission of Centre takes a giant technology boost.
First of its kind Fly-off event to demonstrate use of UAVs/Drones for transport of Lakadong Turmeric happens in West Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya
The One District, One Product ODOP partnered with AGNIi Mission, one of the nine technology missions under the Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council to identify Indian innovative technologies that can play a transformative role in the end-to-end processing of Lakadong Turmeric, starting with leveraging payload drones (UAVs) to transport the turmeric in large quantities.
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Post by Barath »

https://twitter.com/delhidefence/status ... 6486367233 ---> Unveiled at the Aero India 2021 for the first time - the indigenously developed CATS-Warrior (Combat Air Teaming System) currently undergoing detailed wind tunnel tests. Sources indicated, the project is on schedule, expected to be ready by 2024-25.

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Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/DefenceDecode/statu ... oEYmRSgWWA ---> Store separation analysis for the Indian UCAV.

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Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/DefenceDecode/statu ... 3444589573 ----> Construction of the third airframe has started.

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Post by Rakesh »

The caveat in this news is the exception is for R&D, Defence and Security purposes.

https://twitter.com/alpha_defense/statu ... COABWA6xIg ---> Govt of India bans import of foreign drones to promote Made in India drones. Import of drones for R&D, defence, and security purposes to be allowed. Import of drone components, however, not to require any approvals.

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AkshaySG
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Re: UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

Post by AkshaySG »

So apart from defense or R&D what exactly would the government even buy drones for?
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Re: UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

Post by kit »

AkshaySG wrote:So apart from defense or R&D what exactly would the government even buy drones for?
Law and order
Surveillance
Border control
Mapping
Disaster relief
Rescue operations


List is too numerous! In short uav s are capacity and capability enablers
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Post by AkshaySG »

kit wrote:
AkshaySG wrote:So apart from defense or R&D what exactly would the government even buy drones for?
Law and order
Surveillance
Border control
Mapping
Disaster relief
Rescue operations


List is too numerous! In short uav s are capacity and capability enablers
I think most of those also come under the security/defense umbrella.. Certainly anything that would be going to the Army, BSF and other central agencies etc.

The point is that most of the advanced drones that we were thinking of buying or might buy in the future aren't really affected by this rule.

Certainly good to promote indigenous content whereever possible but this covers a small slice of the overall drone acquisitions we expect to make in the near future
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Post by jaysimha »

Quite dated, but relavent here.
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Hyderabad-based Binford Robotics has signed an MoU with Bharat Dynamics Ltd to develop next generation of combat drones.

telegram_share
Published: 06th February 2021
https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities ... 60162.html
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MJCET, Binford join hands to build UAVs
BY TELANGANA TODAY
PUBLISHED: SAT - 5 DECEMBER 20
https://telanganatoday.com/mjcet-binfor ... build-uavs

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https://www.binford.io/
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Post by Prem Kumar »

Best news of the week!

GOI puts on hold plan to buy 30 White Elephants (Predators) from the U.S. It was $3B for them in total, i.e. each one costs 2.5X that of Tejas. Even if we exclude the ground equipment, spares etc, each Predator would still be prohibitively more expensive than a Tejas. Glad that wisdom prevailed

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 4-amp.html
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Post by Neela »

Prem Kumar wrote:Best news of the week!

GOI puts on hold plan to buy 30 White Elephants (Predators) from the U.S. It was $3B for them in total, i.e. each one costs 2.5X that of Tejas. Even if we exclude the ground equipment, spares etc, each Predator would still be prohibitively more expensive than a Tejas. Glad that wisdom prevailed

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 4-amp.html
Now waiting for articles which will critique the decision. We will hear that Rustom is unproven, the engine is foreign etc.
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Post by sum »

What is happening with the Rustom, BTW?

Small snippets once every 2 years come out about some imminent milestone and then back to incognito mode.
I still remember seeing the full scale models and excited news about induction when i was a school kid 2 decades back during the initial Aero India's and seems nothing much has gone ahead till now officially since not even a LSP has made it into the system yet ( despite gung-ho PR releases and 1 minute video footage from time to time)
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Re: UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

Post by Pratyush »

The putting of hold on the 30 UAV from US gives an indication about the potential maturity and development potential of the Rustam.
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Post by YashG »

Neela wrote:Now waiting for articles which will critique the decision. We will hear that Rustom is unproven, the engine is foreign etc.
30 number was never going to cut it. We need way more. So having a single type or even family will reduce OPEX. Rustom & Its Variants down the line will keep some LRU commonality.
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Post by srin »

^^^ What do we need Rustom or Predator-class armed drones for ?
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Post by YashG »

srin wrote:^^^ What do we need Rustom or Predator-class armed drones for ?
including but not limited to :
Breaking the door,
deployments when RoE is uncertain - losing a drone in an engagement that goes hot suddenly is pref.,
Sacrificial bogeys,
Sustained Vigil (20-30 hr endurance function)
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Re: UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

Post by hnair »

YashG wrote:
srin wrote:^^^ What do we need Rustom or Predator-class armed drones for ?
including but not limited to :
Breaking the door,
deployments when RoE is uncertain - losing a drone in an engagement that goes hot suddenly is pref.,
Sacrificial bogeys,
Sustained Vigil (20-30 hr endurance function)
What breaking doors and sacrificial bogeys? These are slow flying drones that can be spotted from far by a near-peer adversary and are very expensive to sacrifice even for khan. Hence not ideal for SEAD or CAS cover for a strike group

Srin has a valid point. These are good during peacetime and maritime patrol. Too expensive and pointless during active hostility with a competent enemy on the other side. Armed Reaper types had its time during war on terror against militia class enemies, but not cheen. Hence khan scraping the vaunted global hawk and going for RQ180 type survivable assets. Even they are not expendable due to the price. That would be MALDS type cheaper assets.

Maybe there is a reason why Rustom family has remained as tech demonstrators to keep up with the technology around the world and satcom control etc.
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Post by Mort Walker »

Pratyush wrote:The putting of hold on the 30 UAV from US gives an indication about the potential maturity and development potential of the Rustam.
Not hold, but cancelled. It will be interesting to see if India orders more IAI Herons that can be armed.
Last edited by Mort Walker on 24 Feb 2022 06:41, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Rakesh »

Amen to that.
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Post by Cybaru »

The worst expense so far still lives 6 AH-64E for army, but I digress.
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Post by Pratyush »

Cybaru wrote:The worst expense so far still lives 6 AH-64E for army, but I digress.
Perhaps that can be handed over to the IAF.
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Post by Pratyush »

Mort Walker wrote: Not hold, but cancelled. It will be interesting to see if India orders more IAI Herons that can be armed.
If Rustum is as mature is i think it is. Then building a larger UAV with larger endurance and payloads will not represent a major challenge.

The basic Rustum platform with longer wing span and more powerful engines should feasible with minor tweaks in the flight control systems to compensate for change in aerodynamic characteristics. While the ground control station remains common to the two varients.

What I am trying to say is that we may not need to go back to Israel or any other source for drones.

PS

1) when I learnt or the Turkish drones over Nagorno Karabakh. I dreamt of a similar UAV based on the learnings from Rustum 1 but powerd by a supercharged mEagle petrol engine from Mahindra. Endurance of 12 hours at 150 kms from station.

2) I also think that one of the below 350 cc motor bike engine's available in India can be used as a power plant for a domestic Haroop equivalent as well.

Am not en engineering type so can't design these my self. But this is what I was thinking about.
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Post by Cybaru »

Even if Rustom isn't ready, launch much cheaper multi-spectral sats. Get a cluster of 10-30 300-500 kg sats. Can't be shot easily and always available. High revisit rates will give us almost real time info. Yeah sure some cloudy days will screw us over, but then there are other sats that fill this gap and there are other assets UAV and manned that we can deploy at will.. I am for sats! Best UAVs.
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Post by Prem Kumar »

We need both Sats & UAVs. When it comes to sats, we need to think big. Standardize on 1 platform & launch several dozens of them for continuous coverage. A handful of PSLV launches can put them all in orbit. The SSLV, when it comes, can launch these on-demand. Give ToT to private players to assemble these satellites at scale. Soon, we will even have private players make launchers + ISRO can ToT the SSLV design to them.

Shooting down a sat is at a much higher level in the escalation ladder than shooting down a UAV. So, China will think long & hard before doing so

When Rustom comes, deploy that at scale too
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Post by Cybaru »

Prem Kumar wrote:We need both Sats & UAVs. When it comes to sats, we need to think big. Standardize on 1 platform & launch several dozens of them for continuous coverage. A handful of PSLV launches can put them all in orbit. The SSLV, when it comes, can launch these on-demand. Give ToT to private players to assemble these satellites at scale. Soon, we will even have private players make launchers + ISRO can ToT the SSLV design to them.

Shooting down a sat is at a much higher level in the escalation ladder than shooting down a UAV. So, China will think long & hard before doing so

When Rustom comes, deploy that at scale too

+1, that's almost what I said.
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Post by ranneel »

With respect to the Ukraine-Russia war,global Hawk has been patroling/recon mission in the Black sea from morning around 10:00 a.m maintaining an altitude of 56,000 ft.
Another Global hawk just below seems to be replacing it or maybe joining it.
Image
Last edited by ranneel on 26 Feb 2022 17:02, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by ranneel »

First global hawk seems to be leaving now.Second global hawk takes its position.
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Second global hawk:
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honor emoticons
Interestingly, a US Navy superhercules KC-130J also seems to have taken off from Silician island in the mediterranian.
Image
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Post by ranneel »

Looks like these are supposed to be NATO's global hawk
This is from 2016:https://www.defensenews.com/air/2016/01 ... ear-s-end/
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Post by jaysimha »

https://www.businessworld.in/article/Ka ... 22-426163/
Kanpur Company Becomes 1st Indian Manufacturer Of Aerostructures For Suicide Drones
21 April, 2022
by Vishal Thapar
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Post by Pratyush »



First 5 under production.
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Post by fanne »

Finally. They should hold the ADE feet to fire. The agency took more than a decade to reach here (in reality, there was leadership change few years ago, clear direction and here we are seeing some progress). Just for comparison - many not so endowed countries like Turkey have already been flying and exporting UAV/UCAV of this class, having started later than us. About time, we had this low-hanging fruit. GOI has banned this class of planes from private industry (for reason that, if allowed, the private company would have just imported these kits, put a paint here or there, tighten some screws, perhaps put indigenous tires for landing, and sold off to defense forces). The step is in the right direction, but late by 5-8 years. I hope there are no delays anymore.

The best thing is that this effort is maturing all the building block technologies - Auto take-off and landing, SAT communication 9LOS and non-LOS comm), pilot in loop, ground control system, weapon management (through Archer), not discussed but hopefully LO shaping, better engines etc etc. I think in next decades, within India this market is many billion dollars (30 Predators that we may buy is 3 billion- subject to CATSAA and many whims). Worth a start. My recommendation, from now on, have many parallel programs with different public/private partnerships - for both r&d and production, where ADE is strictly monitoring and R&D shop (some R&d given to willing private partner, if they can find one).
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Post by SinghS »

While blaming ADE for delays, lets also ask two pertinent questions:

1. Rustom -1 was ready long ago, which is comparable to what Turkish people achieved much later. Why did not the armed forces believe in it and did not value its utility? It was they who wasted the time, till TB-2 became a rage. There is a saying in Hindi..."Ghar ka Jogi Jogda, aan gaon ka siddh".

2. Do we know what is the standard demanded from Rustom-2 in every domain of performance? If it is the world's best and equivalent to Uncle Sam's, delay is justified.

Let's be glad that it is ready and things are gaining momentum. We require money for parallel programs and it is still in very short supply. Private sector can't do miracles if orders for version-0, version-1 etc. are not forthcoming.
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Post by A Sharma »

India will soon get a combat drone


he war in Ukraine has once again highlighted the role of drones in combat. Currently, Indian forces are dependent on foreign-made drones, and that too to gather intelligence. But soon, India will have a drone that can be used in armed missions.

Tapas-BH-201, developed by the Bengaluru-based Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), recently achieved an altitude of 28,000ft and 18 hours of endurance. The agency, under the DRDO, began developing the medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle a decade ago at a cost of Rs1,540.74 crore; it was later revised to Rs1,786 crore.

“We have a good structural design,” said ADE director Y. Dilip. “This is the first time an India-made drone is going for the certification process. And, very soon, it will be inducted into the armed forces.”

The Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) now has to certify the drone for its airworthiness by checking its load factors, safety and airframe design.

The armed forces had not shown much interest in earlier India-made drones, probably due to delayed timelines; the forces continued to depend on Israel-made UAVs like Heron and Searcher.

Though Tapas is primarily used for surveillance, it can also carry weapons. “It is pre-designed to carry certain weapons and can be converted into an armed platform,” said Dilip.

Tapas has a range of sensors that make it capable of day and night missions, and it also has autonomous take-off and landing capabilities. It is designed only for small missions and can carry a limited payload of 150kg.

The armed forces were especially impressed by the drone’s advanced ground control system. “Now, we have completed the two major requirements of our armed forces—altitude at which the bird can fly and endurance (hours spent in sky),” said S. Rajagopal, project director of Tapas. “When it landed, Tapas still had about eight hours of fuel left. So, we have calculated its endurance up to 18 hours. Despite our best efforts, we are slightly short of the armed forces’ requirements. But a majority of requirements have been met.”

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will produce the first five Tapas drones. The company is expected to get the drawings for production by May. Between September and April, HAL will do staggered delivery.

The flight control systems, avionics and data-linked systems for the first five Tapas drones are ready. As soon as the airframe is ready, these systems can be fitted quickly. The engines have already been ordered. “We have the planning in place to make a complete aircraft; systems can be equipped quickly,” said Dilip. “We will train the HAL team on the integration of the first two birds. For the remaining birds, HAL will do the integration themselves.” The ADE will only monitor at the production stage.

Bharat Electronics Limited is the primary partner for electronic systems, like on-board avionics. Then, all five Tapas will go in for user evaluation trials. A total of 76 Tapas drones will be inducted into the armed forces—the Army, 60; the Air Force, 12; and the Navy, four.

Though the original completion date of the project was 2016, it was extended to 2023. The government has made it clear that there will be no further extension.

DRDO scientists are also working with a Coimbatore-based private firm on an indigenous engine for Tapas. The drone is currently powered by the Austria-made Austro engine, which comes with twin turbochargers. As of now, close to 75 per cent of the drone is India-made. DRDO scientists claim that, once inducted, Tapas would be almost eight times cheaper than imported drones.
Atmavik
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Re: UAVs, Drones, Remote Surveillance Tech

Post by Atmavik »

^^^ the current conflict has shown that drones do have a role in surveillance and also attack. the russians have not been able to enforce a no fly zone over such a large area.
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