Just got this press release from DRDO: Nishant, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) developed by DRDO for Indian Army was successfully flight tested near Kolar in Karnataka, today. The state-of-the-art UAV is developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bangalore jointly with Defence Electronics Application Laboratory, Dehradun, Research and Development (Engineers), Pune and Aerial Delivery Research & Development Establishment, Agra.
Nishant is one of the few UAVs in the World in its weight class capable of being catapult launch and recovered by using parachute thus eliminating need for runway as in the case of conventional take off and landing with wheels.
Nishant has completed development Phase and User trials. The present flight tests are Pre Confirmatory Trials before induction into Services. The flight test was witnessed by user representatives, in the presence of Senior Scientists of DRDO.
This Nishant project sucks..
why havn’t they tried an autolanding mode
instead of parachute drops..This old type landing will certainly damage its sensitive stuff like FLIR/DAY-CAM/SAR etc
And they still call it its advantage..
I mean DRDO is great but they should start making stuff that people would want to use. We dont even make good small arms..world have gone passed us with Tavor and H&K 417. I think its time DRDO place its feet firmly on the ground.
@jaydev: no offence mate, but I sugget you do a little research before you post offhand remarks.
World over such similar UAVs are operational and have been an asset to the services.
My 2 cents: Plz get out of “desi sux and firangi good” mode
@ Jaydev …
I wish life was so simple and one could analyse some uav just by seeing two pics. I am sure that the scientists who designed the uav and all sorts of sensors onboard know better than you. I hope another indigenous product is not killed by a fancy foreign product .
Jaydev,
The Nishant UAV is a tactical UAV. That is why take off and landing options were not incorporated into it. It is for supporting army operations where other UAVs cannot operate, in situations where the availability of a landing strip is not there both for launching and landing. In UAVs the space and weight is premium, so the addition of landing guidance systems was not done to have better endurance (loiter time).
About us not making good small arms check out excalibur and kalantak. That part however is the field of OFBs and cursing DRDO for that is not correct.
By the way Nishant Mk 2 incorporates the features you are ask for and rustom (MALE UAV)is going to be even better. DRDO has its feet firmly on ground in this case and have designed the UAV as per the GSQR, so the army has no fuss to make.
Jaydev dude read the article.
“Nishant is one of the few UAVs in the World in its weight class capable of being catapult launch and recovered by using parachute thus eliminating need for runway as in the case of conventional take off and landing with wheels.”
Jaydev,
Advantage with Nishant type UAV is that, it can be launched from any where and it can be recovered even in a playground. Which give user a advantage in urban warfare. So here key word is tactical! Imagine a war behind enemies lines e.g. 1962 Indian Army closing on Lahore. If IA wants a over head reconnaissance before putting an assault. Nishant can easily do the job. You can say HALE/CTOL UAV can do the job too. But HALE will take time to arrive. What if, when raiding unit wants it now. Time taken between radioing help and on scene arrival of HALE/CTOL UAV could become deciding factor in favour of enemy……. Nishant can be carried on trucks in ready to launch position. These trucks loaded nishant will act as a force multiplier for raiding mechanized formation. Mechanized formations will have eye in sky. Nishant will give early warning to advancing formation. Doesn’t matter wherever the raiding formation is….. Simply think why Tunguska air defence systems moves with MBT formations even when air cover can be given by IAF’s Jets doing CAS. Reason is simple one has to be self equipped for worse leaving rest for the specialists………….
Take back my comments..(foot in mouth disease 😉 )
Btw..i am not a firangi fan..
I was wondering why we haven’t matured in long endurance UAV when we have designed and deployed more complex systems. Nishant project 2 my eyes was loitering around 4 a vry vry long time ..thus the rant;-)..
Endurance requires an efficient engine, light weight materials and capacity to carry optimum fuel. You may need power storage devices, fuel cells etc to maximize range and flight duration.
None of this we have expertise in. Only real protection a UAV has is its higher ceiling and smaller size. You need a solid engine, small and light payload (miniaturized sensors, batteries etc)
Keep it light, keep it high and large enough – may be u can add some missiles to it in future!
FYI,
DRDO is developing a longer endurance version of Nishant UAV — which will basically have higher fuel loading.. by accomodating more fuel in the wings & boom.
For the longer endurance Nishant — DRDO is devising a take-off & landing version. This info was made available at AI07
Besides that DRDO is developing a HALE & MALE UAV’s.
Ever heard of Rustom HALE UAV?