A New encouragement to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, which was given by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The DRDO newly started an indigenous development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). In a major success, the DRDO successfully carried out the maiden flight Of TAPAS 201 (RUSTOM-II). It is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV which is a drone for surveillance and attack operation.
The test flight move place from an Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, 250 km from Bangalore and completed its main objectives of the flying platform like take-off, bank, level flight and landing.. Chitradurga is a newly developed flight testing range place for the testing of UAVs and manned aircraft.
The UAV weighs two tonnes and is also the first R&D prototype UAV which has received certification and qualification for the first flight from the Center for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC) and Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA). Rustom- II will undergo further trials for validating the design parameters, before going to User Validation Trials.
TAPAS 201 is apt for carrying Medium Range Electro Optic (MREO), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Long Range Electro Optic (LREO), Situational Awareness Payloads (SAP) and Communication Intelligence (COMINT) to execute missions during the day and night.
The development of UAV immensely promotes the “Make-in-India” initiative as many critical systems such as airframe, flight control, landing gear and avionics sub-systems are being developed in India by the association of private industries. Defence Electronics Application Laboratory (DEAL) of DRDO has provided the data link for the UAV.
Rustom -2’s maiden flight successful, DRDO Heightening the “Make in India” initiative
