Chitradurga: India today joined the elite club of countries to have mastered the controls for the flying wing technology, after the flight trial of a tailless configuration of Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator, an indigenous high-speed flying-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) from the Aeronautical Test Range, here.
The flight trial of successfully carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The Aeronautical Development Establishment of DRDO designed and developed this UAV.
“The successful flying demonstration of this autonomous stealth UAV is a testimony to maturity in the technology readiness levels in the country. With this flight in the tailless configuration,” the Ministry of Defence stated.
The maiden flight of this aircraft was demonstrated in July 2022, followed by six flight trials in various developmental configurations using two in-house manufactured prototypes. These flight tests led to achievements in the development of robust aerodynamic and control systems; integrated real-time and hardware-in-loop simulation, and state-of-the-art Ground Control Station. The team had optimised the avionic systems, integration and flight operations towards the successful seventh flight in the final configuration.
The aircraft prototype, with a complex arrowhead wing platform, is designed and manufactured with lightweight carbon prepreg composite material developed indigenously. Also, the composite structure, impregnated with fibre interrogators for health monitoring, is a showcase of ‘Aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) in aerospace technology. The autonomous landing of this high-speed UAV, without the need for ground radars/infrastructure/pilot, showcased a unique capability demonstration, allowing take-off and landing from any runway with surveyed coordinates. This was possible using onboard sensor data fusion with indigenous satellite-based augmentation using GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) receivers to improve the accuracy and integrity of GPS navigation.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented DRDO, the Armed Forces and the Industry for the successful flight trial of the system. He stated that the successful development of such critical technologies indigenously will further strengthen the Armed Forces.
– global bihari bureau
