Rustom – II

•  Defence Research and Development Organization or DRDO successfully carried out the maiden flight of indigenous unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) Rustom-II.

About Rustom:

• It is also called as Tapas 201.
• The drone has been developed on the lines of American Predator drones.
• The main objective of this flight is to prove the flying platform, such as take-off, bank, level flight and landing etc.
• Rustom-II has been designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the Bengaluru-based premier lab of DRDO with the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd as the production partners.
• It is the first prototype UAV which has undergone certification and qualification for the first flight from the Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC) and Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA).
• This multi-mission UAV, with an endurance of 24 hours, is being developed to carry out the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance roles for the three forces.
• It is capable to carry different combinations of payloads like Medium Range Electro Optic (MREO), Long Range Electro Optic (LREO), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Communication Intelligence (COMINT) and Situational Awareness Payloads (SAP) to perform missions during day and night.
• The public sector research organisation has tied up with private industries for making some of the critical systems like airframe, landing gear, flight control and avionics sub-systems, thus contributing towards government's pet Make-in-India initiative.
• Before the User Validation trails, this platform will have to undergo more trials for validation of the design parameters.

Analysis:

• Indian armed forces are planning to induct over 5,000 drones with various capacities and payloads. India is seeking US Predator B Guardian drones for the Indian Navy, which is likely to be heard during the upcoming visit by US Defence Secretary Aston Carter to India. India is also eyeing several armed drones from Israel, Heron TPs.
• India is also seeking Predator Avenger drones, which come armed with hellfire missiles, the Rustom-II is expected to have an armed version too in future.
• "DRDO's 'Rustam' UAV first flight is a great milestone indeed. It is meant to replace the Israeli 'Heron' in all three armed forces . The future of aviation is unmanned. Indian Air Force uses them for laser guidance, battle damage assessment in addition to ISR functions.

By: Vishal