India set to develop own stealth combat drones

[Zarvan]

NEW DELHI: India is finally getting set to launch an ambitious project to develop its own stealth combat drones or UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles), which will be capable of firing missiles and precision-guided munitions at enemy targets and then returning to home bases to re-arm for further missions.

Sources said the government was close to approving a Rs 2,650 crore Project Ghatak to develop the futuristic "Indian Unmanned Strike Air Vehicle", which has already been cleared by the defence ministry. "The project is now being evaluated by an expert committee set up by the finance ministry. Once approved, Project Ghatak will be placed before the cabinet committee on security for the final nod," said a source.



Project Ghatak flows from the earlier AURA (autonomous unmanned research aircraft) programme, which was sanctioned in 2009 at a cost of Rs 12.50 crore to carry out a "conceptual and feasibility study" for the future Indian UCAV. "The (AURA) project was successfully completed in April 2013 within the time schedule," minister of state for defence Rao Inderjit Singh told Parliament earlier this month.

Project Ghatak, initiated by the Aeronautical Development Agency-DRDO combine in consultation with the IAF, now plans to bring in "collaborators" from the initial stage itself. Weighing less than a fighter jet since it will be "more of a flying-wing in design", the UCAV will take at least a decade to become fully-operational.

Interestingly, the UCAV will be powered by a "52-kilonewton dry variant" of the indigenously-developed Kaveri aerospace engine, which could not pass muster to become the power plant for the Tejas light combat aircraft.

The Kaveri engine failed to provide the higher thrust required to power Tejas throughout its flight envelope, which led India to procure American GE engines for the indigenous fighter project. But all the work done on the Kaveri engine, on which Rs 2,839 crore have been spent after it was first approved way back in 1989, will now not go waste, sources said.







Incidentally, the armed forces already have Israeli Harop 'killer' drones, which basically act as cruise missiles to first detect and then destroy specific enemy targets and radars by exploding into them in kamikaze fashion.



Moreover, some of the existing Indian fleet of Israeli Heron and Searcher-II UAVs are also being upgraded with "add-ons" to ensure they can undertake a combat mission over and above their current surveillance and precision-targeting roles, as earlier reported by TOI.




But UCAVs are far more advanced, and considered among the most potent game-changers in modern day warfare. The 'Predator' and 'Reaper' drones which are controlled from the US through satellites, for instance, have been extensively used to fire 'Hellfire' missiles against Taliban targets in the Af-Pak region.



The armed forces, on their part, are keen to further induct a wide variety of drones, ranging from hand-launched mini ones to full-fledged UCAVs. The Army, for instance, wants at least 598 mini-UAVs to ensure "battlefield transparency" and "beyond the hill surveillance" in a 10-km radius for its infantry soldiers.

India set to develop own stealth combat drones - Times of India

 

[$@rJen]

Is this about AURA or a whole new Project for a new UCAV??

 

[aanshu001]

this is AURA project, good to see some fruits from Kaveri project too, most interesting thing is this "add on" on Israeli Heron and Searcher-II UAVs. Any Ideas what will be this add ons.

 

[Rangila]

Talking in aviation parlance, as they say "wing is the thing", the Indian UCAV to have flying wing design = tailless model.

 

[Maarkhoor]

A comment by Indian

I appreciate the optimism but I would rather use historic data to predict the possible achievements. We do not have a stable fighter aircraft or even a helicopter after 40 years trying to develop one. We did develop substandard small aircrafts, non-cryogenic missiles (so these cant be intercontinental) and some tanks. Even our indigenous radars are substandard and mere modifications of outdated russian ones. When I look out to the streets all I see is lack of governance and resulting chaos. Our streets kill 10,000 times more people than Pakistan / terrorism will ever. Still instead of fixing our own broken system we want to live in the illusion that life after Pakistan is rosy? Isn't this why our politicians and bureaucrats know that once in the office that have to deliver NOTHING

Times of India

 

[GR!FF!N]

Our streets kill 10,000 times more people than Pakistan / terrorism will ever.

did he mean accidents??


I predict some butt hurt Pakistani is making some noise.Because that guy neither knows about Indian Helos,nor Fighter Jets or Cryo and semi cryo engines of ISRO.That kind of fools generally comes from across the border to make comments.