AUTONOMOUS FLYING WING TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR – SCI & TECH
News:
DRDO successfully tests
high-speed flying-wing UAV
What's
in the news?
●
Recently, The Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out the maiden test flight
of a new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) named Autonomous Flying Wing
Technology Demonstrator, from the Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga,
Karnataka.
Key
takeaways:
●
With this flight in the tailless
configuration, India has joined the
elite club of countries to have mastered the controls for the flying wing
technology.
Autonomous
Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator:
●
It is powered by a small turbofan engine.
●
The airframe, undercarriage and entire
flight control and avionics systems used for the aircraft were developed
indigenously.
●
Operating in a fully autonomous mode, the aircraft exhibited a perfect flight, including take-off, way
point navigation and a smooth touchdown.
Features:
●
The flying wing type of aircraft has a key
operational advantage because it has low reflective cross sections resulting in
low radar signature, making it a stealth machine.
●
Because of the shape, the aircraft also
has very low drag or air resistance.
●
However, this unique design also comes
with its issues related to stability and thus requires additional systems.
●
The design has the potential to deliver
high fuel efficiency and stealth, if executed with precision, as demonstrated
by some of the advanced bombers in the USA’s arsenal like B-2 bombers.
Significance:
●
It marks a major milestone in terms of
proving critical technologies
towards the development of future unmanned aircraft and is a significant step
towards self-reliance in such strategic defence technologies.
●
It is a reduced sized autonomous aircraft and is proving various
technologies for autonomous aircraft to be built in future.
Other
related Developments:
●
DRDO is in the process of developing UAVs
of different classes to meet the requirements of the armed forces.
●
Rustom-2,
the indigenous Medium Altitude Long
Endurance (MALE) UAV under development, has crossed a milestone by reaching
an altitude of 25,000 feet and an endurance of 10 hours in December 2021 and is
being designed to reach an altitude of 30,000 feet and 18 hours endurance.
●
The DRDO has in the past developed various
drones, like Nishant, Rustom, Tapas and
Lakshya among others, which have different capabilities and operational
roles.
●
The Autonomous Flying Wing Technology
Demonstrator is precursor to an autonomous
stealth Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) being developed by the DRDO,
primarily for the Indian Air Force.
●
A deck-launched version for the Indian
Navy is also said to be in the pipeline. The UCAV will be capable of launching
missiles and precision-guided munitions.