Abhyas High-speed Expendable Aerial Target | 23 Sep 2020
Why in News
Recently, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted successful flight-tests of the indigenously-designed Abhyas High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) in Balasore (Odisha).
- Two demonstrator vehicles of Abhyas cleared all the evaluation parameters like 5 km flying altitude, vehicle speed of 0.5 mach (half the speed of sound), endurance of 30 minutes etc.
Key Points
- Designed and developed by: Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of DRDO.
- Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) is a key Aeronautical Systems Design Laboratory under DRDO.
- It is involved in the design and development of the state-of-the-art Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Aeronautical Systems and technologies to meet the requirements of the Indian Armed forces.
- Features:
- It is a drone (UAV) that will be used as a target for various missile systems.
- It is powered by a small gas turbine engine.
- Navigation by Micro-electromechanical (MEMS) systems based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation.
- MEMS is a process technology used to create tiny integrated devices or systems that combine mechanical and electrical components.
- It is lightweight and reliable, consumes less power and is cost-effective.
- Programmed for fully autonomous flight.
- Uses: As a target for evaluation of various Missile systems.
- Background: This is the second time that the target vehicle was flight-tested successfully. The first successful test was in May 2019.
- Others: Recently, the DRDO successfully flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV).