India quietly begins combat drone project

[StingRoy]

India quietly begins combat drone project

NEW DELHI: India is quietly going ahead with an ambitious programme to develop its own stealth UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles) or 'smart' drones capable of firing missiles and bombs at enemy targets with precision.

Talking about the secretive AURA (autonomous unmanned research aircraft) programme for the first time, Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) told TOI that the aim is to develop the UCAVs for IAF in seven to eight years.

"With Rs 50 crore as seed money, a full-fledged project team with 15-18 scientists has already begun work on the UCAV's preliminary design and technology. With on-board mission computers, data links, fire control radars, identification of friend or foe, and traffic collision avoidance systems, they will be highly intelligent drones," DRDO's chief controller R&D (aeronautics) Dr Prahlada said.

"Capable of flying at altitudes of 30,000 feet and weighing less than 15 tonnes, the UCAVs will have rail-launching for the missiles, bombs and PGMs (precision-guided munitions) they will carry," he added.

The realisation that UCAVs are "game-changers in modern-day warfare" has been reinforced by the successful use of American 'Predator' and 'Reaper' drones, armed with Hellfire and other missiles, against the Taliban in the region.

"But unlike Predators, which are like aircraft, our UCAVs will be more of 'a flying-wing' in design. This will ensure they have a low radar cross-section to evade enemy sensors," said Dr Prahlada.

Pakistan, incidentally, has been after the US to get Predators but so far has only managed to extract assurances for supply of the unarmed 'Shadow' drones for intelligence-gathering missions.

DRDO, on its part, is confident of developing the UCAVs mainly on its own, with "some foreign consultancy or collaboration" in fields like stealth as well as autonomous short-run take-off and landing.

Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) at Bangalore is the main nodal DRDO lab for the AURA project, with others like Defence Avionics Research Establishment (Bangalore), Defence Electronics Application Lab (Dehradun) and Gas Turbine Research Establishment (Bangalore) chipping in.

As earlier reported by TOI, apart from spy drones, India already has some "killer" drones like Israeli Harpy and Harop UAVs. These drones basically act as cruise missiles by detecting and then destroying specific enemy targets and radars by exploding into them.

 

[axisofevil]

This news is too late....I mean where the fuk was our defense planning commission....its so obvious we have idiots who don;t have a clue as to what the cutting edge research that is going on in other countries decades ago. I mean come on, they only realized this now? Any idiot could imagine the endless possibilities of UCAVs and we only realize it now? The folks in defense really lack vision and creativity. Don;t we have an organization like DARPA iof the US? I mean how come we aren;t even thinking out of the box.... I know the Chinese have a plan to develop cutting edge futuristic weapons but its supposed to happen in planned stages in which they develop expertise in current weapons platforms before they go out and develop new stuff. But we aren;t even following a blueprint....Everytime Western powers go to war, smart nation observe the tactics and weapons involved. i am sure or at least hope India does but to what extent? How much time do we spend? How good is our spy agencies ability to steal other nations weapons. Why don;t we such a plan in action so that we may copy and develop weaknesses? I mean we could try to obtain the HQ-9's from Malaysia or Indonesia.


On another note I suggest our Indian members look on the Turkish thread UAE's MRTP 16 with Stamp Gatling. Why is our coast guard not equipped with such guns and such boats?

 

[BlueDot_in_Space]

This news is too late....I mean where the fuk was our defense planning commission....its so obvious we have idiots who don;t have a clue as to what the cutting edge research that is going on in other countries decades ago. I mean come on, they only realized this now? Any idiot could imagine the endless possibilities of UCAVs and we only realize it now? The folks in defense really lack vision and creativity. Don;t we have an organization like DARPA iof the US? I mean how come we aren;t even thinking out of the box.... I know the Chinese have a plan to develop cutting edge futuristic weapons but its supposed to happen in planned stages in which they develop expertise in current weapons platforms before they go out and develop new stuff. But we aren;t even following a blueprint....Everytime Western powers go to war, smart nation observe the tactics and weapons involved. i am sure or at least hope India does but to what extent? How much time do we spend? How good is our spy agencies ability to steal other nations weapons. Why don;t we such a plan in action so that we may copy and develop weaknesses? I mean we could try to obtain the HQ-9's from Malaysia or Indonesia.


On another note I suggest our Indian members look on the Turkish thread UAE's MRTP 16 with Stamp Gatling. Why is our coast guard not equipped with such guns and such boats?

Shant bhim shant!!!!

Only the news is late not the project. The work has been going on for the last 3-4 years. Apart from DRDO, IIT Kanpur is also involved. We are also working on Rustom and all the learnings of Rustom and also the sub systems will go in AURA.

 

[Hawk Eyes]

what kind of stupid headlines do you indians come up with

 

[acetophenol]

what kind of stupid headlines do you indians come up with

Whats the problem dude?

 

[jha]

This news is too late....I mean where the fuk was our defense planning commission....its so obvious we have idiots who don;t have a clue as to what the cutting edge research that is going on in other countries decades ago. I mean come on, they only realized this now? Any idiot could imagine the endless possibilities of UCAVs and we only realize it now? The folks in defense really lack vision and creativity. Don;t we have an organization like DARPA iof the US? I mean how come we aren;t even thinking out of the box.... I know the Chinese have a plan to develop cutting edge futuristic weapons but its supposed to happen in planned stages in which they develop expertise in current weapons platforms before they go out and develop new stuff. But we aren;t even following a blueprint....Everytime Western powers go to war, smart nation observe the tactics and weapons involved. i am sure or at least hope India does but to what extent? How much time do we spend? How good is our spy agencies ability to steal other nations weapons. Why don;t we such a plan in action so that we may copy and develop weaknesses? I mean we could try to obtain the HQ-9's from Malaysia or Indonesia.


On another note I suggest our Indian members look on the Turkish thread UAE's MRTP 16 with Stamp Gatling. Why is our coast guard not equipped with such guns and such boats?

hmmm....................

 

[twoplustwoisfour]

Shant bhim shant!!!!

Only the news is late not the project. The work has been going on for the last 3-4 years. Apart from DRDO, IIT Kanpur is also involved. We are also working on Rustom and all the learnings of Rustom and also the sub systems will go in AURA.

Isn't there a startup company of IIT Kanpur graduates in this field? I think they are based out of Bangalore, I'm forgetting their name though.

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

hmmm....................

ROTFLMAO..................

 

[Firemaster]

India quietly begins combat drone project

NEW DELHI: India is quietly going ahead with an ambitious programme to develop its own stealth UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles) or 'smart' drones capable of firing missiles and bombs at enemy targets with precision.

Talking about the secretive AURA (autonomous unmanned research aircraft) programme for the first time, Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) told TOI that the aim is to develop the UCAVs for IAF in seven to eight years.

"With Rs 50 crore as seed money, a full-fledged project team with 15-18 scientists has already begun work on the UCAV's preliminary design and technology. With on-board mission computers, data links, fire control radars, identification of friend or foe, and traffic collision avoidance systems, they will be highly intelligent drones," DRDO's chief controller R&D (aeronautics) Dr Prahlada said.

"Capable of flying at altitudes of 30,000 feet and weighing less than 15 tonnes, the UCAVs will have rail-launching for the missiles, bombs and PGMs (precision-guided munitions) they will carry," he added.

The realisation that UCAVs are "game-changers in modern-day warfare" has been reinforced by the successful use of American 'Predator' and 'Reaper' drones, armed with Hellfire and other missiles, against the Taliban in the region.

"But unlike Predators, which are like aircraft, our UCAVs will be more of 'a flying-wing' in design. This will ensure they have a low radar cross-section to evade enemy sensors," said Dr Prahlada.

Pakistan, incidentally, has been after the US to get Predators but so far has only managed to extract assurances for supply of the unarmed 'Shadow' drones for intelligence-gathering missions.

DRDO, on its part, is confident of developing the UCAVs mainly on its own, with "some foreign consultancy or collaboration" in fields like stealth as well as autonomous short-run take-off and landing.

Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) at Bangalore is the main nodal DRDO lab for the AURA project, with others like Defence Avionics Research Establishment (Bangalore), Defence Electronics Application Lab (Dehradun) and Gas Turbine Research Establishment (Bangalore) chipping in.

As earlier reported by TOI, apart from spy drones, India already has some "killer" drones like Israeli Harpy and Harop UAVs. These drones basically act as cruise missiles by detecting and then destroying specific enemy targets and radars by exploding into them.

upto 15 tonne weight MTOW or without armed?

 

[mautkimaut]

Isn't there a startup company of IIT Kanpur graduates in this field? I think they are based out of Bangalore, I'm forgetting their name though.

Ya the company's name is aurora integrated systems.they have moved to Bangalore after funding from Tata

 

[axisofevil]

Shant bhim shant!!!!

Only the news is late not the project. The work has been going on for the last 3-4 years. Apart from DRDO, IIT Kanpur is also involved. We are also working on Rustom and all the learnings of Rustom and also the sub systems will go in AURA.

If you read when the research on X-37 was going on in the USA? It was being developed back in the 1960's or 50's. It speaks volumes....india needs an think tank that focuses on the cutting edge with creative imagination for futuristic threats. We are seriously lacking in this department if we have only begun work 3-4 yrs ago...Dudes stop making excuses like for corruption! This a major problem along with others that need to be addressed.

 

[axisofevil]

ROTFLMAO..................

What so funny....I think I made some serious points..

 

[Laughing_soldier]

good.

15 ton? it is larger than mig-29.

 

[Major Sahab]

what kind of stupid headlines do you indians come up with

I totally agreed!!!!!!!

 

[Firemaster]

^^^ Stupidity hides the actual secrecy