India UAV Programs

[Gessler]

Why pitot tube is there ?

To gather airspeed data.

Also I don't understand the requirement of adding sensors in current form if they don't see any possible application , don't u think so ?

It's best to get the process of determining where each sensor & fitment goes done with at the earliest. Because sooner or later this same prototype will conduct flight tests as well.

Swift if able to be launched from aircraft carrier can be quite useful

SWiFT in of itself will likely never see operational service. It's too small to mount any useful internal payload even for surveillance. And the wingform & control logic of flying-wings likely doesn't allow for dangling a large external sensor like EO pod underneath.

Only the much larger IUSAV/Ghatak will serve.

 

[Lonewolf]

I

To gather airspeed data.



It's best to get the process of determining where each sensor & fitment goes done with at the earliest. Because sooner or later this same prototype will conduct flight tests as well.



SWiFT in of itself will likely never see operational service. It's too small to mount any useful internal payload even for surveillance. And the wingform & control logic of flying-wings likely doesn't allow for dangling a large external sensor like EO pod underneath.

Only the much larger IUSAV/Ghatak will serve.

Hope they develop a twin engine type Ghatak too . With amca engines , can serve as our heavy bomber

 

[Zapper]

I

Hope they develop a twin engine type Ghatak too . With amca engines , can serve as our heavy bomber

The biggest hinderance really is IAF or IA inducting these systems...once the initial orders are placed and inducted we can see volume orders. Look at some helos like LCH which is still undergoing user trail, multiple mountain/desert/hot, cold, humid weather/high & low altitude trails, uncle, aunty, chacha, nani trails and crap

Arjun MBT went thru similar trails where IA tried everything they possibly could to derail the project in favor of Russian kickbacks and go for more T-90s. Thankfully, the Parikkar era has been a blessing for promotion of indigenous weapons platforms.

With the number of private players in the Ghatak UCAV project along with active participation from IITs, we should see an IOC version soon. Twin engine variant is something we shouldn't expect anytime soon...let's hope the current version gets inducted

 

[Zapper]

The rest of the video would be nice.

Swarm Drones being launched from Toyota Innova

 

[Zapper]

Tapas UAV

 

[Zapper]

Few more pics of Tapas

 

[Zapper]

Trinetra - ordered by NSG

 

[Zapper]

3 Indian start-ups win IAF swarm drone competition, at least 2 in line for defence contracts​

New Delhi: Three Indian start-ups have won a three-year-long swarm drone competition organised by the Indian Air Force, which will now pave the way for at least two of them to get formal contracts for surveillance, attack and electronic warfare drones.

The ‘swarm architecture’ award went to NewSpace Research & Technologies Pvt Ltd, run by former IAF officer Sameer Joshi. Incidentally, NewSpace had recently won a USD 15 million swarm drone order from the Indian Army.

The ‘communication architecture’ award went to a Delhi Technology University team in a tie-up with Adani Defence, and the ‘drone architecture’ award went to Dhaksha Unmanned Systems.

Sources in the defence establishment told ThePrint that the results which were announced Sunday took into account the unique characteristics offered by all the three companies, and there was no single winner per se.

However, NewSpace is understood to have performed well on all parameters.


The IAF had conceptualised the Mehar Baba Swarm Drone Competition, which was launched on 3 October 2018, to encourage development of swarm drones, for utilisation in varied domains. The name of the competition honoured Late Air Commodore Mehar Singh, affectionately called ‘Baba’ Mehar Singh by his associates and admirers in the IAF.

It was conceptualised to evolve proprietary design, development, manufacturing and production of “low cost-high impact” solutions for swarm drone technology, the IAF said in a statement Sunday. The competition was open to only indigenous talent and indigenous start-ups.

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Also read: India adds punch to its firepower against China and a mix of defensive-offensive strategy

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‘Operationalised future warfare philosophy in real time’​

As reported by ThePrint in September, the finalisation of the winners will now pave the way for inking formal contracts.

The firms will get assistance from select Base Repair Depots, which carry out major repair and overhaul of aircraft and other equipment of the IAF, since the force is looking at a more complex system than what has been showcased so far.

The firms will also get armament procured from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Industry sources said with the induction of swarm drones in their capability matrix, the Indian armed forces have operationalised a future warfare philosophy in real time.

This capability puts India at par with nations like the US, China, UK, Russia and Turkey, which are inducting swarm drones into their arsenal, the sources said.

When the IAF began the Mehar Baba Swarm Drone Competition in 2018, it received 154 applicants from across the country.

Of these, 54 were shortlisted in the first round and 20 were further selected in the second round.

These 20 were then asked to demonstrate 10 drones with 10-km range and 10 medical drops in Pokhran. The companies were reimbursed Rs 25 lakh each by the IAF.

The top five from the 20 were given a task of demonstrating a 50-km range with 20 drones and 20 medical or emergency aid drops in GPS-denied, rogue drone and anti-drone jamming environments.

https://theprint.in/defence/3-india...least-2-in-line-for-defence-contracts/756314/

 

[Nilgiri]

Why pitot tube is there ?


Also I don't understand the requirement of adding sensors in current form if they don't see any possible application , don't u think so ?

Swift if able to be launched from aircraft carrier can be quite useful

I think because the next set of (hopefully flight) tests are coming up soon.

Which sensors do you see as having no possible application?

EDit: nvm i see gessler answered stuff already...

 

[Nilgiri]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1452886243792998403

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1452893727123382279

 

[Zapper]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1452886243792998403

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1452893727123382279

Tapas is supposed to be an UCAV right!!...not just a surveillance drone alone

 

[Lonewolf]

Tapas is supposed to be an UCAV right!!...not just a surveillance drone alone

Maybe , but they are focussing on surveillance more for now as our neighbours will too use these fixed wing large uav for surveillance .

Offensive will be done by swarm

 

[Gessler]

@Gautam is saying that these 3 vents/slits on the airframe are part of an effusive cooling system. They collect cool air from above the body and mix it with the exhaust plume of the engine, reducing the IR signature.

Lot of people on other forums are wondering why there needs to be a sub-scale prototype for this program while there wasn't any for other drones developed in the country. The reason is - the flying-wing planform. It's control logic is totally different compared to any conventional design that has all your typical control surfaces like horizontal & vertical stabilizers. But coming up with the flight control software from scratch that can support a flying wing lift body that lacks any such apparent stabilizing surfaces is a challenge.

And this software needs to be tested & proven thoroughly - that's why the sub-scale prototype.

^^ Annotations by Amiet R. Kashyap

 

[Lonewolf]

@Gautam is saying that these 3 vents/slits on the airframe are part of an effusive cooling system. They collect cool air from above the body and mix it with the exhaust plume of the engine, reducing the IR signature.

View attachment 34431

Lot of people on other forums are wondering why there needs to be a sub-scale prototype for this program while there wasn't any for other drones developed in the country. The reason is - the flying-wing planform. It's control logic is totally different compared to any conventional design that has all your typical control surfaces like horizontal & vertical stabilizers. But coming up with the flight control software from scratch that can support a flying wing lift body that lacks any such apparent stabilizing surfaces is a challenge.

And this software needs to be tested & proven thoroughly - that's why the sub-scale prototype.

View attachment 34432

^^ Annotations by Amiet R. Kashyap

@Bilal Khan(Quwa) thought maybe you will be interested in it

 

[Nilgiri]

Tapas is supposed to be an UCAV right!!...not just a surveillance drone alone

Yes arming will come later in TAPAS series.

We need massive amount of surveillance immediately....so making sure a drone very reliable in MALE domain as its first major default role (surveillance) is logical dev route to follow.

 

[SavageKing456]

@Nilgiri @Gessler
What I fail to understand is why this tender has word "UAV" and then talks about Weapons bay which is a component of only ghatak.
It should be a UCAV and not UAV
Is this some sort of another project?
Tender is old but I didn't pay that much attention.
They want to build a airframe, assembly jigs, advanced nozzles, weapon bay doors, landing gear etc. Much of attention is being paid to ssignature management. Advanced nozzles and paints for thermal management. Intake design, weapon bays, nozzle design & coatings for RCS reduction. The RCS will be tested with X-band radars. The drone will also carry significant amount of weapons & fuel. A lot of test are lined for centre of gravity measurements in unloaded, unsymmetrically loaded & fully loaded conditions
Timeline is 2 years

Also ghatak is ADA project.
Any answer?

 

[Nilgiri]

@Nilgiri @Gessler
What I fail to understand is why this tender has word "UAV" and then talks about Weapons bay which is a component of only ghatak.
It should be a UCAV and not UAV
Is this some sort of another project?
Tender is old but I didn't pay that much attention.
They want to build a airframe, assembly jigs, advanced nozzles, weapon bay doors, landing gear etc. Much of attention is being paid to ssignature management. Advanced nozzles and paints for thermal management. Intake design, weapon bays, nozzle design & coatings for RCS reduction. The RCS will be tested with X-band radars. The drone will also carry significant amount of weapons & fuel. A lot of test are lined for centre of gravity measurements in unloaded, unsymmetrically loaded & fully loaded conditions
Timeline is 2 years

Also ghatak is ADA project.
Any answer?

ADE project under DRDO nahi?

It is stated as such on the letterhead...

ADE:

Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) | Defence Research and Development Organisation - DRDO, Ministry of Defence, Government of India

Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) is a key Aeronautical Systems Design House involved in the design and development of the state-of-the-art Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Aeronautical Systems and technologies to meet the requirements of the Indian Armed forces. Major R&D activities are...

www.drdo.gov.in

IMO its fine to call it UAV instead of UCAV. UCAV will be one (major) variant of it....but the ecosystem at large will be (stealth) UAV since there might be surveillance only version etc.

We will have to see how things unfold name wise and specific category wise with time.

 

[SavageKing456]

As far as ik this swift uses fluidic TVC with angle of deflection 5 degree,this is a very challenging tech
BAE magma tried to prove this tech,but did not succeed so far.
Interesting that we're going for an unproven tech and it completely makes sense for us to make 1:15 and 1:7 scaled version.

 

[Lonewolf]

As far as ik this swift uses fluidic TVC with angle of deflection 5 degree,this is a very challenging tech
BAE magma tried to prove this tech,but did not succeed so far.
Interesting that we're going for an unproven tech and it completely makes sense for us to make 1:15 and 1:7 scaled version.

I think drdo uses armed uav and uav term only ,ucav is generally not written

 

[Gessler]

Regarding the joint project with US AFRL for air-launched UAV:

The Air-Launched UAV (ALUAV) to be jointly developed by DRDO & US Air Force's AFRL will reportedly be capable of "Under-weather and Stand-off imaging and Extended Range Communication"...

“The UAS we develop [under this agreement] will ultimately launch from host aircraft to provide additional capability to the military,” he explained. The team will “start from the ground up to build a UAS designed for extended range communications, one capable of sending messages hundreds of miles.”

AFRL to collaborate with India on Air Launched UAVs

The U.S. Air Force has signed an agreement for joint development of Air Launched UAVs with India’s Defence Research and Development Organization. The milestone agreement is the first such technical

www.afrl.af.mil

Nobody knows yet what the drone will look like, what the intended launch aircraft(s) will be or what the payloads will be, too early to say anything definitive about that. But personally, I have a hypothesis...

X-61A Gremlin, an ALUAV that AFRL has a hand in​

...imagine a RecceLite electro-optic reconnaissance pod or a EL/M-2060P radar recon pod that is able to detach from the host aircraft, enter inside protected airspace on its own & relay the observation data back to the mothership and/or any other friendly aircraft via data-link...

...I think the Indo-US Air-Launched UAV could actually be something along those lines. It remains to be seen if its intended to be recoverable either mid-air (like the Gremlin) or at least land back under its own power or not...would be a very expensive proposition otherwise.

Gremlins Operation Concept