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India set to develop own stealth combat drones

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.

READ ALSO:IAF to get mini drones for covert operations

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.

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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.

READ ALSO:India turns to Israel for armed drones as Pakistan, China build fleets

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
hope this doesnt end up like the rest of India's defence products.
 
Bhai ek kaam kar tu apne ghar ke pecche drone bana le aur jab banjaye tab bata dena.....:hitwall:

They should feel happy if Indian money is being wasted while Pak is producing top notch defence drones, JF-17 from NESCOM and PAF-Kamra. 1000 of hitech Private companies must be driving Pak's defence industry

Private sector must have role in production of defence goods - The Express Tribune


We poor Indians wre always happy with cheap ambassador, fiat and padmini: all of it cost less than 2 Laks
 
Don't worry my friend, it will. :D

ja beta tere kaam ka time hogaya. Ja jake rozi kar apni redlight pe. :D
I think you have grown up watching all this nonsense, ask yourself you may know something more:azn:
 
Tera intelligence bhi teri tarha fake nikla re, mumbai khaan poonch gaye tum???1890km dur aagyi tumhari intelligence:cheesy:......aur bhai hume aise kaam karne ki zaroorat nahi padi.....:rofl:


Veere jaan de, inhano koi kam ni honda......waise bhi oodhi intelligence tan tusi dekh laye hai....:partay:
waise not my style to give advice but dear you are on a persons thread who has 4 diffrent IDs and only way he knows on the forum is trolling along with a few friends of his and a TT no matter how good you are they will always troll you i dont even answer back to OP try to stay away from his threads for your own sanity ..... cheers mate :cheers:

They should feel happy if Indian money is being wasted while Pak is producing top notch defence drones, JF-17 from NESCOM and PAF-Kamra. 1000 of hitech Private companies must be driving Pak's defence industry

Private sector must have role in production of defence goods - The Express Tribune


We poor Indians wre always happy with cheap ambassador, fiat and padmini: all of it cost less than 2 Laks
you are a false flagger and you gave proof ogf that by saying the bolded part ... try better ways to troll mr false glagger or is that @Luca :sarcastic:
 
waise not my style to give advice but dear you are on a persons thread who has 4 diffrent IDs and only way he knows on the forum is trolling along with a few friends of his and a TT no matter how good you are they will always troll you i dont even answer back to OP try to stay away from his threads for your own sanity ..... cheers mate :cheers:


you are a false flagger and you gave proof ogf that by saying the bolded part ... try better ways to troll mr false glagger or is that @Luca :sarcastic:
Oh thanks bro...
 
This again reminds me of what one of my Chutia friend said once, "Yar BA ka time nehe me soch raha hoon pehly MA ker loon phir jub job mil jaye gi to saath saath BA ker loon ga."
Chutia friend bhi chutia ka hi hota ha hahaha
 
When India first stated that it wants to build its own space agency the whole world laughed at it...But now whole world wants India to launch their satellites because Indians do it in a cheap rate....

Now DRDO is in the same situation...Just give them the time they will also deliver it...Let's hope for the best...
 
I don't know how ADA/DRDO will keep up the time frame,they struggled a lot with manned conventional jet,and we are going behind a flying wing design which requires totally different approach to make it realize. And we dont want a pilot in it.
 
@Zarvan @Windjammer @knight11

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
It wont happen immediately it needs a long time to clean up the streets and change our systems, but yes the changes have already started slowly..
 
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