Military Unmanned
U
(left) Netra lightweight, autonomous mini-UAV meant for surveillance and
reconnaissance; (right) nishant UAV will be inducted for military use
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are rapidly becoming
the futuristic devices to watch. They are employed in a variety of
military roles and their civilian use is also on the rise. Following the
spectacular success of US and Israeli unmanned missions, militaries across the globe are eagerly adding these useful “toys” to their
arsenals. The Indian armed forces too have long appreciated the
worth of UAVs, but acquisition plans have lagged. Most systems
currently available are procured from Israel. Last year the country
ordered 15 Heron medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAVs
manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), to add to the
25 existing such systems that are being upgraded with better communication equipment and sensors. The three services also have
around 100 Israeli Searcher II tactical surveillance UAVs.
India’s market for UAVs is potentially huge and a number
of private firms seem eager to participate in development and
production of new machines. Apart from subassemblies, major
subsystems like sensors and engines are already being obtained
from private suppliers. However, it is the public sector Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and its key
aeronautical systems design house, the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), that are in the forefront of efforts to
develop indigenous military UAV capability.
Eye-in-the-Sky Netra
Netra, for instance, is a lightweight, autonomous mini-UAV
meant for surveillance and reconnaissance. It was jointly developed by DRDO’s ADE and ideaForge, a Mumbai-based private
company. It is made of carbon fibre composites. Since it weighs
just 1.5 kg, it is portable enough to be carried in a backpack.
It requires hardly any maintenance because it has no moving
parts except rotors, motors and transmissions. It has quadruple
rotors that provide vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability and control. Once launched, it can climb to its operating
altitude of 200 metres to 300 metres and fly a distance of about
2.5 km from the take-off point.
Netra is electrically powered and a single charge keeps it airborne for about 30 minutes. Its flight and navigation is controlled
by an onboard autopilot with the help of anti-collision sensors.
It automatically flies to the location specified on the ground. It
can carry out surveillance at a distance of about 1.5 km line of
light (LOS), using a high resolution CCD camera with pan/tilt and
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ISSUE 5 • 2014
zoom features to enable wider coverage. It can also carry a thermal camera for night operations. However, it cannot operate in
rain. In case of loss of communication or if the battery is running low, Netra automatically returns to its launch position. It has
been inducted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and
other paramilitary and police forces in the country.
Airborne at Dawn: Nishant
Nishant is another ADE-designed UAV for military use. Its primary roles are intelligence, reconnaissance, training, surveillance, target designation, artillery fire correction, damage assessment and Electronic and Signals Intelligence (ELINT/SIGINT). It
is rail-launched from a hydro-pneumatic launcher and recovered
by parachute, thus eliminating the need for a runway. The Nishant weighs 380 kg and with a cruising speed of 125 to 150
kmph, it has an operational range of 160 km and can remain
airborne for four-and-a-half hours. Its service ceiling is 3,600
metres. The Nishant has completed the development phase as
well as user trials and is under induction by the Indian Army.
Remarkable Rustom
But the Rustom UAV is where DRDO/ADE may enter the big
league later this year. The Rustom is a family of UAVs that is
intended to be the mainstay of the three services, supplementing
or even replacing the imported Heron.
The Rustom story began in the 1980s when a team from the
National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), India’s second largest
aerospace firm, under the leadership of Professor Rustom Damania, developed the Light Canard Research Aircraft (LCRA). The
LCRA was inspired by Burt Rutan’s Model 61 Long-EZ, a homebuilt aircraft with a canard plan form. The first model to emerge
was the Rustom-I, an all-composite tactical surveillance UAV,
based on the LCRA. It is designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and designation, communications relay,
battle damage assessment and ELINT/SIGINT. It is powered by
a single 160 horsepower Lycoming engine and may have an
endurance of up to 12 hours. The aircraft cruises at 80 to 100
knots and has a maximum speed o