Ghatak and Rustom Indigenous UAV Programs

How India's New Warrior Drone Can Help Reshape Air Combat​

The drone, called Warrior, is part of an indigenous programme called CATS or Combat Air Teaming System, described as "a composite amalgamation of manned and unmanned platforms which work together to penetrate heavily defended enemy airspace."​


All IndiaWritten by Vishnu SomUpdated: February 01, 2021 9:46 pm IST
by Taboola
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How India's New Warrior Drone Can Help Reshape Air Combat

An animated image of 2 unmanned Warrior drones flying in support of a Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.



New Delhi:
A full scale replica of India's first-ever semi-stealth drone, now under development, is being showcased at Aero India, the mega air-show which kicks off in Bengaluru later this week.
The drone, called Warrior, is part of an indigenous programme called CATS or Combat Air Teaming System, described as "a composite amalgamation of manned and unmanned platforms which work together to penetrate heavily defended enemy airspace." In simple terms, the Warrior drone is being designed to operate with an Indian-made Tejas combat aircraft flown by an Indian Air Force pilot, which it will defend and fight with as they go into combat together.
The first Warrior prototypes are expected to fly within three to five years and is being funded by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
unflaksg

The Warrior unmanned drone is part of CATS, or Combat Air Teaming System, which has multiple next-generation systems under development.
"Multiple Warriors will be commanded by a single Tejas," said a source close to the project. The idea is to maximise the effectiveness of every mission while reducing the potential of losing the lives of precious pilots since they would be accompanied by the drones which would protect them. "The Warrior is being armed with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles," which would be used to hit targets on the ground or in the air.
The Warrior, while not an out-and-out stealth platform, which would allow it to evade being picked up by radar, is classified 'low observable', which makes its detection challenging for contemporary systems.

www.ndtv.com

How India's New Warrior Drone Can Help Reshape Air Combat

A full scale replica of India's first-ever semi-stealth drone, now under development, is being showcased at Aero India, the mega air-show which kicks off in Bengaluru later this week.
www.ndtv.com www.ndtv.com

@_Anonymous_ @Ashwin @nair @Parthu @suryakiran @Amal @Sathya @Gautam
 
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1356284192447844358
Milspec said:

How India's New Warrior Drone Can Help Reshape Air Combat​

The drone, called Warrior, is part of an indigenous programme called CATS or Combat Air Teaming System, described as "a composite amalgamation of manned and unmanned platforms which work together to penetrate heavily defended enemy airspace."​


All IndiaWritten by Vishnu SomUpdated: February 01, 2021 9:46 pm IST
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored
Which credit card has the best travel rewards? See the list. (NerdWallet)
These Cars Are So Loaded It's Hard to Believe They Cost Under Average Prices (Luxury Cars | Search Ads)


How India's New Warrior Drone Can Help Reshape Air Combat's New Warrior Drone Can Help Reshape Air Combat

An animated image of 2 unmanned Warrior drones flying in support of a Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.



New Delhi:
A full scale replica of India's first-ever semi-stealth drone, now under development, is being showcased at Aero India, the mega air-show which kicks off in Bengaluru later this week.
The drone, called Warrior, is part of an indigenous programme called CATS or Combat Air Teaming System, described as "a composite amalgamation of manned and unmanned platforms which work together to penetrate heavily defended enemy airspace." In simple terms, the Warrior drone is being designed to operate with an Indian-made Tejas combat aircraft flown by an Indian Air Force pilot, which it will defend and fight with as they go into combat together.
The first Warrior prototypes are expected to fly within three to five years and is being funded by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
unflaksg

The Warrior unmanned drone is part of CATS, or Combat Air Teaming System, which has multiple next-generation systems under development.
"Multiple Warriors will be commanded by a single Tejas," said a source close to the project. The idea is to maximise the effectiveness of every mission while reducing the potential of losing the lives of precious pilots since they would be accompanied by the drones which would protect them. "The Warrior is being armed with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles," which would be used to hit targets on the ground or in the air.
The Warrior, while not an out-and-out stealth platform, which would allow it to evade being picked up by radar, is classified 'low observable', which makes its detection challenging for contemporary systems.

www.ndtv.com

How India's New Warrior Drone Can Help Reshape Air Combat

A full scale replica of India's first-ever semi-stealth drone, now under development, is being showcased at Aero India, the mega air-show which kicks off in Bengaluru later this week.
www.ndtv.com www.ndtv.com

@_Anonymous_ @Ashwin @nair @Parthu @suryakiran @Amal @Sathya @Gautam
Click to expand...
Somehow I don't receive half your tags.
 
Sathya said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1451727765707710471

View attachment 21554
Click to expand...
Some observations from the photo :

1. The new turbo-diesel engines have asymmetric intakes & a bolstered engine mount. The new engine is heavier & twice as powerful as the NPO Saturn 36MT used on the prototypes. With 2 engines the current drone has 4 times the power of the initial prototype.
2. The military wanted the drone to have 3000 km of range, 50k ft of service ceiling & a MTOW of 3 tons. With the 36MT the drone had a MTOW of ~2.15 tons & a weapon payload of 350 kg. The new engine will give it ~500-600 kg of weapon payload. The HELINA/Dhruvastra weighs around 45 kg & the SANT should be <70 kg. Theoretically the drone should be able to carry ~10 HELINA/Dhruvastra & >8 SANT missiles.
3. The new landing gear has also been integrated. Seems to be well designed, no visible sagging. The orange parts of the wing & tail are movable leading edge slats.
4. The orange parts of the fuselage are for housing the Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs). There is one central large SAR & 2 smaller side mounted SARs.
5. When it enters service it is likely to be the largest drone with the military. No wonder they needed to develop an Automatic Takeoff & Landing System for this drone.

Somebody made this poster sometime back. Its pretty accurate :
1634968231530.png
 
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1634971966275.png

Latest Image of the Rustom I armed drone.
Courtesy - Sandeep_Mave on twitter

Can someone do an analysis of this pic/make any interesting observations, similar to the one done for the TAPAS above? @Gautam?
 
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SammyBoi said:
View attachment 21560
Latest Image of the Rustom I armed drone.
Courtesy - Sandeep_Mave on twitter

Can someone do an analysis of this pic/make any interesting observations, similar to the one done for the TAPAS above? @Gautam?
Click to expand...
The Rustom-1 is a bit of an enigma. Development of the drone was completed in 2012-13. But news of it was scarce. There has been a 2nd round of capital infusion that went into the the project. Whether the money came from an order of the existing system or it was a case of continued development is not known.

The drone wasn't designed from ground up to be armed. But there were photos going around of the drone taxiing on a runway with 2 missiles. The engine is powerful enough to carry 2 HELINA/SANT class missiles. But at that time these missile weren't ready. So what missiles was the drone armed with ?

Look at the photo above, notice the missile's nose is covered. IIR & SAL seekers need covers of that kind. So in all due probability it is either a HELINA or a SAMHO missile. The launcher is very minimalistic, unlike the HELINA's launchers which have launch tubes. Either way our arsenal of armed drones are limited right now. It helps to have these drones armed & combat ready. Unlike the Rustom-2, the Rustom-1 is simpler & can be mass manufactured in a short period of time.
 
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Gautam said:
Some observations from the photo :

1. The new turbo-diesel engines have asymmetric intakes & a bolstered engine mount. The new engine is heavier & twice as powerful as the NPO Saturn 36MT used on the prototypes. With 2 engines the current drone has 4 times the power of the initial prototype.
2. The military wanted the drone to have 3000 km of range, 50k ft of service ceiling & a MTOW of 3 tons. With the 36MT the drone had a MTOW of ~2.15 tons & a weapon payload of 350 kg. The new engine will give it ~500-600 kg of weapon payload. The HELINA/Dhruvastra weighs around 45 kg & the SANT should be <70 kg. Theoretically the drone should be able to carry ~10 HELINA/Dhruvastra & >8 SANT missiles.
3. The new landing gear has also been integrated. Seems to be well designed, no visible sagging. The orange parts of the wing & tail are movable leading edge slats.
4. The orange parts of the fuselage are for housing the Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs). There is one central large SAR & 2 smaller side mounted SARs.
5. When it enters service it is likely to be the largest drone with the military. No wonder they needed to develop an Automatic Takeoff & Landing System for this drone.

Somebody made this poster sometime back. Its pretty accurate :
View attachment 21555
Click to expand...
It's wing design look very conventional may be they can get some more endurance by redesigning it.
 
Chain Smoker said:
It's wing design look very conventional may be they can get some more endurance by redesigning it.
Click to expand...
Maybe. There was some talk about getting a single engine pusher propeller configuration. But that kind of major re-design will take a long time. There are some private companies going for a similar configuration, check post #80 on this thread.

ADE is better off doing continuous optimizing the current design as they are doing now.
 
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