India has flown the homegrown Rustom-1 unmanned aerial vehicle for the first time.
Developed by the DRDO Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the 30-min. flight took place on Oct 16 from a Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Ltd. airfield at Housr, near Bangalore.
“Notwithstanding erratic weather conditions, the UAV had a perfect textbook flight, meeting all mission parameters,” says Dr. Prahlada, Chief Controller at DRDO. It flew to a planned altitude of 3,000 feet.”
The Rustom-1 has autonomous features such as GPS-controlled waypoint navigation. With a maximum endurance of 15 hr., Rustom-1 can carry payloads up to 75 kg. (165 lb.) and climb up to 25,000 ft.
The UAV’s datalink was designed and developed by DRDO’s Defende Electronics Applications Laboratory, located in Dehradun, while the airframe was made by Coimbatore-based private firm Zephyr. DRDO hopes that Rustom-1 will act as a stepping stone for future programs such as the medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV project Rustom-H and an unmanned combat aerial vehicle project.
Svipja Technologies
Developed by the DRDO Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the 30-min. flight took place on Oct 16 from a Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Ltd. airfield at Housr, near Bangalore.
“Notwithstanding erratic weather conditions, the UAV had a perfect textbook flight, meeting all mission parameters,” says Dr. Prahlada, Chief Controller at DRDO. It flew to a planned altitude of 3,000 feet.”
The Rustom-1 has autonomous features such as GPS-controlled waypoint navigation. With a maximum endurance of 15 hr., Rustom-1 can carry payloads up to 75 kg. (165 lb.) and climb up to 25,000 ft.
The UAV’s datalink was designed and developed by DRDO’s Defende Electronics Applications Laboratory, located in Dehradun, while the airframe was made by Coimbatore-based private firm Zephyr. DRDO hopes that Rustom-1 will act as a stepping stone for future programs such as the medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV project Rustom-H and an unmanned combat aerial vehicle project.
Svipja Technologies
Rise of UAVs
ReplyDeleteUAVs are capable of operating without an internal pilot; are tethered by a radio control link; and can be preprogrammed for both flight and payload operations prior to launch. One final note on the UAV acronym: it has many extensions, as all-acronyms.com has noted 10 including plurals:
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(s)
• Unmanned Aerospace Vehicle(s)
• Uninhabited Aircraft Vehicle
• Unmanned Air Vehicle
• Unmanned Airborne Vehicle
• Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle
• Unmanned Vehicle
• Upper Atmosphere Vehicle
Uses of UAV in India
Successful utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the Kashmir region, coupled with India’s aviation industry boom, is expected to provide UAV development programs the necessary foundation to succeed in the immediate future. India’s UAV market has been idle in the last two decades and has not followed up on the earlier successes of indigenous UAVs. Hence, the government has targeted a few areas in the Indian armed forces that need modernization. The introduction of UAVs is one of the first steps taken in this direction. In the future, the utilization of UAVs in India’s military is expected to eventually spillover to commercial industries as well.
'UAV technologies are expected to re-shape national defense strategies and policies, and are currently being tested in real-world situations by the Indian armed forces,' says the analyst of this research service. 'Early test results have proven that this technology will be very useful and successful in different types of operations.' In addition, maritime operations, as well as surveillance and reconnaissance operations in India are boosting the demand for medium altitude long endurance UAV (MALE UAVs) and tactical UAV (TUAVs).
India’s lack of focus and technological capabilities drives the need for a concerted framework for current and future UAV development programs.
What future hold for India
While many inferences can be drawn to the statement by former Mosad Chief Afrem Helvi given during HT Leadership Summit 2009 that “Only hot pursuit can break the backbone of terrorism” it provably hinted at use of technology and not the human form of it. Reminding that “if Pakistan has nuclear weapons then India too is not inferior” his advice was to break the terrorists bases he emphasized that “for hot pursuit is not essential to use conventional forms (Hindustan dated 31st Oct. 09). Thus UAVs seem to logical option for this purpose. Possibly emboldened by the USA success in Swat Valley in Pakistan, Indian Home Minister was hinting at ‘fierce retaliation’ if 26/11 is ever repeated by Pakistan (TOI dated 2nd Nov. 09).
To become a major participant in the Asia Pacific UAV industry, government-linked organizations have been set up to provide a concerted framework for current and future development programs.' The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is one such institution that assists India to be self-reliant in terms of UAV technology. In view of India’s extensive use of the UAV technology, the country’s armed forces are expected to be well equipped. In addition, India is likely to require non-domestic partnerships in the immediate future to proceed with indigenous research and development.
Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examined the following market sector in India in their research:
• UAV Research and development
• Manufacturing
• Training
• Components and parts
• Maintenance and repair