These didn't face many failure, thanks to our missile man APJ.
Ghatak and Rustom Indigenous UAV Programs
- Thread starter Ashwin
- Start date
India's drone program has been a disaster , other cntries have atleast some thing flying even though not in the same class. On the other hand looks like every one right from military to agencies all are conspiring to make it a failure to import phoren-mal.
Its high time heads rolled, if we accommodate these ppl else where same thing will repeat and they will have no good reason to deliver.
After Ukraine war, Drones are almost our numero uno priority. We've failed, true. But that doesn't mean, we won't ever succeed. Need to give it some more time.
Ghatak UCAV's 1st Director Raises Concerns Over Program's Path - Livefist
By BIJU UTHUPFounding Project Director, GHATAK Building on the success of the LCA Tejas program, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) embarked on a new frontier, setting its sights on the development of advanced variants and cutting-edge projects such as the 5th Generation Advanced Medium...
www.livefistdefence.com
As I concluded my tenure as the Project Director of the GHATAK project, a strategic move by DRDO surprised many – the project transitioned from ADA to the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE). This shift from one organization to another raises natural questions about the rationale behind this decision and the implications it holds for the GHATAK project’s trajectory. ADA and ADE are two different organizations related to aeronautical development in Bangalore, India.
ADA was established in 1984 to oversee the development of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program. It has developed Tejas and is developing AMCA, TEDBF, and DRDO Ghatak. On the other hand, ADE stands for Aeronautical Development Establishment, which is a key Aeronautical Systems Design House involved in the design and development of state-of-the-art Unmanned Air Vehicles and Aeronautical Systems to meet the requirements of the Indian Armed Forces. Unlike ADA, ADE is not known for their delivery of UAV products to the services with their satisfaction as compared to the delivery of operational LCA to the Indian Air Force.
It is crucial to emphasize that ADA played a pivotal role in advancing the GHATAK configuration and its associated technologies to a state of maturity before the project transitioned to ADE. These allowed ADE to seamlessly progress and successfully execute scaled flights. ADA’s meticulous optimization of internal and external aerodynamics, shaping for a low radar cross-section (RCS), and other crucial aspects, significantly contributed to the scaled GHATAK test flight success at ADE. Notably, the configuration design was executed with such precision at ADA that even ADE, an organization historically known for grappling with flight crashes in their own UAV designs, and flew ADA’s world-class flying wing UCAV design without encountering any mishaps. This stands as a testament to the exceptional indigenous configuration design prowess demonstrated by ADA throughout the GHATAK project while it was still at ADA.
One reason for this transition of the GHATAK project from ADA to ADE was DRDO’s desire to provide ADE and other DRDO cluster labs with a spotlight similar to ADA for their respective project successes. Several of the DRDO labs like GTRE and ADE were under scrutiny for non-delivery of their products to the users. GTRE (Gas Turbine Research Establishment) had faced challenges with the delivery of the KAVERI engine for the LCA, and ADE struggled to meet the operational UAV demands for the unmanned UAV, Nishant, and RUSTUMs for the services which recently resulted in the closure of the RUSTOM project as reported in the media, leaving ADE with the taking up GHATAK project gifted to ADE as their main life safer project now code named as SWIFT & Remotely Piloted Strike Aircraft (RPSA). In addition, the Government of India expressed dissatisfaction with the expected performance of DRDO, with Prime Minister Modi commenting in 2014 on the “Chalta hai” attitude of DRDO, a position the author agrees to even today. DRDO sought to salvage its image by allocating projects, such as GHATAK initiated and conceptualized at ADA, to labs that might not have conceived and executed them independently. This quick-fix decision was made despite ADA’s successful track record and contributions to India’s defense capabilities of delivering the LCA to the Indian Air Force.
DRDO to continue with Tapas drone project, to expand its capabilities to operate above 30,000 ft
— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) January 15, 2024
Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/V9xfIWfWOi#Tapas #Drones #DRDO pic.twitter.com/juB2CXuQeW
The DRDO is continuing with its project to further develop the Tapas medium-altitude, long endurance (MALE) drone in which one of the three services has shown interest to use them around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for operations. The Tapas drones being developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment Laboratory have not been able to fully meet the Joint Services Qualitative Requirements of flying at 30,000 feet for over 24 hours at a stretch and have been excluded from the category of mission mode projects.
"One of the defence forces has shown interest in using the Tapas drones for operations in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where it can be used for surveillance and reconnaissance," sources in the Defence Research and Development Organisation
said.
The Tapas drones have been tested by the defence forces and during the trials, it managed to reach 28,000 feet altitude and could fly for over 18 hours, they said.
In one of the trials, the drone was also operated by Indian Navy officials over the Arabian Sea for a few hours after it flew from an airfield in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
The sources said that the runway length required for the Tapas drone to take off is not very long and can be used from some of the small airfields in the island territories.
DRDO officials said the laboratory concerned would be working on improving designs and increasing the power in the drone to make it more suitable for service requirements of altitude and endurance, which it was not able to meet in the recent evaluations.
The premier defence research agency led by Dr Samir V Kamat has been working on major drone projects, including unmanned combat aerial vehicles like Ghatak and other projects like Archer.
"One of the defence forces has shown interest in using the Tapas drones for operations in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where it can be used for surveillance and reconnaissance," sources in the Defence Research and Development Organisation
said.
The Tapas drones have been tested by the defence forces and during the trials, it managed to reach 28,000 feet altitude and could fly for over 18 hours, they said.
In one of the trials, the drone was also operated by Indian Navy officials over the Arabian Sea for a few hours after it flew from an airfield in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
The sources said that the runway length required for the Tapas drone to take off is not very long and can be used from some of the small airfields in the island territories.
DRDO officials said the laboratory concerned would be working on improving designs and increasing the power in the drone to make it more suitable for service requirements of altitude and endurance, which it was not able to meet in the recent evaluations.
The premier defence research agency led by Dr Samir V Kamat has been working on major drone projects, including unmanned combat aerial vehicles like Ghatak and other projects like Archer.
Initial report itself said it will be delinked from mission mode project. DRDO can work on it.So Tapas is not as dead as we all thought(thanks to Indian Navy)
Nonetheless, It's a failure to meet given requirements. Giving justification for imports.
So TAPAS UAV was flown in 3 altitudes, 6000ft, 20000ft and 32000ft during its Tri-Forces Trials at ATR, Chitradurga. The max altitude was 32,000ft, looks like it failed to achieve the max altitude with Long Range EO payload as the QRs by the Tri-Forces.#Alphauddin pic.twitter.com/JmpvgCUEHx
— Alpha Defense™ (@alpha_defense) June 8, 2024
Indian Navy to order four Made-in-India Tapas drones from DRDO
New Delhi [India], June 22 (ANI)
In a boost for made-in-India weapon systems, the Indian Navy is set to place an order for four Tapas drones built in India by the DRDO.
The Indian Navy intends to use the drones developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation for surveillance over the maritime zone.
"The Indian Navy is going to order four Tapas drones and it is going to use them for maritime surveillance operations," defence officials told ANI.
The drones would be manufactured by a consortium of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
"The deliveries would be made faster by the consortium as the first bird would be ready for delivery within 24 months of signing the contract. The existing birds or drones would be used for carrying out trials and improving their capabilities," they added.
The Tapas drones have not been able to meet the requirements of the defence forces in trials but the DRDO is continuing with the project to further develop the Tapas medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE).
The Tapas drones being developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment Laboratory have not been able to fully meet the Joint Services Qualitative Requirements of flying at 30,000 feet for over 24 hours at a stretch and have been excluded from the category of mission mode projects.
The Tapas drones have been tested by the defence forces and during the trials, they managed to reach 28,000 feet altitude and could fly for over 18 hours.
In one of the trials, the drone was also operated by Indian Navy officials over the Arabian Sea for a few hours after it flew from an airfield in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
According to the sources, the runway length required for the Tapas drone to take off is not very long and can be used from some of the small airfields in the island territories and mainland. (ANI)
https://www.aninews.in/news/nationa...n-india-tapas-drones-from-drdo20240622194144/
New Delhi [India], June 22 (ANI)
In a boost for made-in-India weapon systems, the Indian Navy is set to place an order for four Tapas drones built in India by the DRDO.
The Indian Navy intends to use the drones developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation for surveillance over the maritime zone.
"The Indian Navy is going to order four Tapas drones and it is going to use them for maritime surveillance operations," defence officials told ANI.
The drones would be manufactured by a consortium of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
"The deliveries would be made faster by the consortium as the first bird would be ready for delivery within 24 months of signing the contract. The existing birds or drones would be used for carrying out trials and improving their capabilities," they added.
The Tapas drones have not been able to meet the requirements of the defence forces in trials but the DRDO is continuing with the project to further develop the Tapas medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE).
The Tapas drones being developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment Laboratory have not been able to fully meet the Joint Services Qualitative Requirements of flying at 30,000 feet for over 24 hours at a stretch and have been excluded from the category of mission mode projects.
The Tapas drones have been tested by the defence forces and during the trials, they managed to reach 28,000 feet altitude and could fly for over 18 hours.
In one of the trials, the drone was also operated by Indian Navy officials over the Arabian Sea for a few hours after it flew from an airfield in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
According to the sources, the runway length required for the Tapas drone to take off is not very long and can be used from some of the small airfields in the island territories and mainland. (ANI)
https://www.aninews.in/news/nationa...n-india-tapas-drones-from-drdo20240622194144/
IAF to acquire 6 Tapas drones, lead military acquisition for Made-in-India UAVs
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): In a major boost to enhancing indigenous unmanned surveillance capabilities of defence forces, the Indian Air Force has made a proposal to the central government to buy 10 Tapas drones, officials said on Sunday.
Out of the 10, six Made-in-India drones would be for the Indian Air Force, while the remaining four would be for the Indian Navy, defence officials told ANI.
The Indian Air Force will be the lead agency for the induction and acquisition of the Tapas drones into the defence forces, they said.
The proposal by the IAF is expected to be soon taken up for discussion by the Defence Ministry.
These two forces are only buying the drones at the moment, the officials said.
Tapas drones are medium-altitude long, endurance-category drones that have been developed indigenously by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and have to be manufactured by a consortium of Bharat Electronics Limited and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
The drones have not been able to meet the requirements of the defence forces but the limited inductions by the services are going to help them be upgraded and refined in the near future to meet larger requirements, the officials said.
The IAF has a fleet of Israeli-origin Searcher, Heron Mark-1 and Mark-2 drones and is looking to induct the American Predator MQ-9B drones in the future as part of a tri-services acquisition.
The six indigenous Tapas drones would help it improve unmanned surveillance on both the northern and western fronts, they said.
In recent times, the Indian Air Force has emerged as one of the staunchest supporters of Make in India in Defence, with orders for 180 LCA Mark 1A and 156 LCH attack choppers worth around Rs 1.6 lakh crore getting placed or are about to be placed by it.
The Indian Navy intends to use the Tapas for surveillance activities over the maritime zone.
The deliveries would be made faster by the consortium as the first bird would be ready for delivery within 24 months of signing the contract, they said.
DRDO is continuing with the Tapas project to further develop the system. The Tapas drones being developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment Laboratory have not been able to fully meet the Joint Services Qualitative Requirements of flying at 30,000 feet for over 24 hours at a stretch and have been excluded from the category of mission mode projects.
The Tapas drones have been tested by the defence forces and during the trials, they managed to reach 28,000 feet altitude and could fly for over 18 hours. (ANI)
A failed project getting some token order. Lets close it for now and focus on getting the next project running.
It has been one year since the ADE chief proclaimed that Archer NG would be flying in a few months. There is no sense of accountability or shame in providing such a timeline. Let's hope they gut DRDO thoroughly to improve it.
It has been one year since the ADE chief proclaimed that Archer NG would be flying in a few months. There is no sense of accountability or shame in providing such a timeline. Let's hope they gut DRDO thoroughly to improve it.
Tbh Tapas is really big, kinda hard part is in developing the capable aerial carrier vehicle part, its subsystems give very good performance no doubt. This is where MoD need to play proactive role in inducting, but I doubt their intention.
RIMPAC 2024: US Navy Draws Lessons On “UAV Warfare” From Ukraine To Counter China In Pacific
The US Navy is expanding naval operations by incorporating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into its fleet. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) recently conducted extensive drone operations as part of the 2024 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. “Hardest...
www.eurasiantimes.com
UAVs are key to battlefield tactics. This has been proven in Ukraine.
Ghatak project has a contender 
Lying is an art and this guy is an expert of it.pic.twitter.com/PmXYx4PKgo
— Alpha Defense™ (@alpha_defense) September 3, 2024
this version looks like it's been on weight watchersGhatak project has a contender
Lying is an art and this guy is an expert of it.pic.twitter.com/PmXYx4PKgo
— Alpha Defense™ (@alpha_defense) September 3, 2024
