INDIA' CURRENT & FUTURE UAVs & UCAVs

[DrSomnath999]

Recently it was reported that DRDO had been testing a pulse jet engine on Rustom1 UAV.So does that mean DRDO is close to develop a GPS-INS guided glide bomb kit similar to GBU series??What do you guys think??

well too premature to answer that , honestly from my side ,it is still under development just wait for 1-2 years u would get ur
answer

 

[DrSomnath999]

I am desprately waiting for UNMANNED CHETAK,and how it was going ????????

well progress has been made in protype stages ,while talks are also on for unmanned DHRUV
Israel, India to advance work on unmanned Chetak
IAI to help India develop unmanned Dhruv

 

[tvsram1992]

Buying Mig Skat will not only increase our strength of our inventory but also we can get tot which would help in indigenous programs .

 

[T90TankGuy]

quiet an in depth article .all put together . thanks to the OP.

 

[Tshering22]

I am desprately waiting for UNMANNED CHETAK,and how it was going ????????

I don't think that is coming anytime soon. Some say the program was scrapped as it was too expensive to convert it. Other articles don't mention any timeline. And we all know that projects with a defined timeline itself get delayed... what to talk of undefined projects.

For now, we need stuff along the lines of MQ-9s. And looking at the airframe of Rustom-H, I believe that it is possible to modify it into a UCAV which even its manufacturers have proposed. Hopefully it should be into IAF by the mid of this decade, both armed and unarmed. A MALE drone is good enough UCAV.

---------- Post added at 10:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 PM ----------

Buying Mig Skat will not only increase our strength of our inventory but also we can get tot which would help in indigenous programs .

MiG SKAT is not even successful as of what Russians have mentioned. They're having trouble with designing its targeting and precision systems. A drone is everything about precision, targeting and fire control and without it, it is just an RC toy.

We have a reasonable industry to manufacture UAVs and UCAVs man, if only we eliminate red tape and corruption from defense manufacturing. If a specialized U(C)AV division could be set directly under PMO (not under Munni but the entire PMO) like ISRO is, then it will be a wonderful thing as UAVs would be produced rapidly with only a few signatures.

 

[DrSomnath999]

I don't think that is coming anytime soon. Some say the program was scrapped as it was too expensive to convert it. Other articles don't mention any timeline. And we all know that projects with a defined timeline itself get delayed... what to talk of undefined projects.

well there has been conflicting report on it as some say unmanned dhruv may be built so god knows what would happened on that project .

For now, we need stuff along the lines of MQ-9s. And looking at the airframe of Rustom-H, I believe that it is possible to modify it into a UCAV which even its manufacturers have proposed. Hopefully it should be into IAF by the mid of this decade, both armed and unarmed. A MALE drone is good enough UCAV.

yes we are working on it whether we would build & induct it on our own Or buy a similiar platform needs to be seen

MiG SKAT is not even successful as of what Russians have mentioned. They're having trouble with designing its targeting and precision systems. A drone is everything about precision, targeting and fire control and without it, it is just an RC toy.

yes that was i was going to say about Mig skat but russians are trying to develop & induct UCAVS as it is a future weapon so
lets see how they achieve that goal

We have a reasonable industry to manufacture UAVs and UCAVs man, if only we eliminate red tape and corruption from defense manufacturing. If a specialized U(C)AV division could be set directly under PMO (not under Munni but the entire PMO) like ISRO is, then it will be a wonderful thing as UAVs would be produced rapidly with only a few signatures.

we must build or codevelop with Isreal to produce a quality UCAV not just for protype or so called test demonstrator purpose

 

[Bl[i]tZ]

DrSomnath, kudos for the awesome thread!

 

[tvsram1992]

MiG SKAT is not even successful as of what Russians have mentioned. They're having trouble with designing its targeting and precision systems. A drone is everything about precision, targeting and fire control and without it, it is just an RC toy.

We have a reasonable industry to manufacture UAVs and UCAVs man, if only we eliminate red tape and corruption from defense manufacturing. If a specialized U(C)AV division could be set directly under PMO (not under Munni but the entire PMO) like ISRO is, then it will be a wonderful thing as UAVs would be produced rapidly with only a few signatures.

Yes because its not fully developed . Even the now PAKFA and JSF are not yet developed fully . We can partner them to get tot and buy some to increase our strength . Remember it can carry cruise missiles too . We can modify them to carry nukes . Skat is a reduced rcs design and can be a future base platform for unmanned +gen aircraft . AURA will not come before AMCA so it will take more than 15 years to make it upto current Mig SKAT standard .
Even DRDO is not under PMO and we cannot expect a wing under PMO for UCAV's .

 

[DrSomnath999]

Rustom-2 (H) HALE UAV to have its first flight in early 2014

Development of Rustom-2 (H) HALE UAV will shift into higher gears from next year, when Agencies will start testing components for Rustom-2 (H) HALE UAV, According to media reports first prototype will be ready by end of 2013 and first flight is likely to occur in first quarter of 2014.

Designing of Rustom-2 has been completed, and agencies are selecting a development partner for which major Private sector defence companies have given their proposal, Rustom-2 (H) HALE UAV will be UAV in class of American RQ-1 Predator.

Rustom-2 will have flight endurance of over 24 hours and will be able to operate above 30000 ft, DRDO plans to complete the entire test and enter its production by end of 2016. All three Services have shown keen Interest in the Project and have their firm backing on this Rustom-2 project.

Rustom-2 MK-2 will carry External Weapons like American RQ-1 Predator. As per sources Army and Navy have shown keen interest in this variant .India is looking to replace Israeli made UAV in its current fleet with indigenously made Rustom-1 and Rustom-2.

Rustom-2 Mk-2 will be test bed of lot of technologies which will ultimately find its place in India’s UCAV Project Aura, which will take to air by 2020, but the Project will officially go on line only after Rustom-2 enters Production in 2016.

Rustom-2 (H) HALE UAV to have its first flight in early 2014 | idrw.org