vivek_ahuja wrote:Quote from the above link
Rustom-II (Tapas), the medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Aeronautical Development Establishment flew in the Satellite Communication (SATCOM) mode for the first time.
Sources at DRDO headquarters confirm that the UAV also flew with the long range electro optical payload. They claim that these two capabilities are not available on the Heron and Searcher UAVs being operated by the tri-Services now.
I have highlighted the bold part again to emphasize the context within which the homegrown UAVs exist while we hear about armed drones being imported by all three services.
Vivek, there is a difference between design specifications, development specifications and certified specification.
Satcom control of UAV and datalink of EO transmission is currently under design and development. It isnt certified.
There was a Rustom 2 crash as well that is indicative of control issues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hk4l-i1LPc
Unless the capabilities move from development stage to a fully certified stage, considering induction is not meaningful.
vivek_ahuja wrote:The real question is: if the Rustom-II is doing things the imported UAVs are not able to, why is the program not being pushed along by visible and public IAF support? Surely open support from the IAF would really add wind to the sails of the engineers working on the program?
It is not
yet doing things. It is trying and learning to do things.
Just because a person is studying engineering doesnt qualify him for a job offer. Only when he submits his marksheet and degree certificate is his job offer confirmed.
IA is supportive of Rustom
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... s?from=mdr
Similarly, there has not been keen interest by the army on a proposal to acquire 10 of the armed drones as it is committed to an indigenous project by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The army has pledged to procure over 80 of the Rustom 2 drones that are under development and are being weaponised by the DRDO.
80 is more than total number of Herons in all three services.
BTW Satcom control is enabled by Navy GSAT-7 Rukmini and IAF GSAT-7A.