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New Drone Will Be Used For Surveillance And Not Combat, Says DRDO Chief
Swarajya Staff
Nov 21, 2016, 09:02 PM | Updated 09:02 PM IST
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The new unmanned aerial vehicle that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed and flight-tested recently, would be for surveillance and not combat, said a senior official on Sunday (20 November).
"The new UAV, re-christened Tapas from Rustom-2, has been developed for surveillance and not for combat purpose," DRDO Chairman S Christopher told reporters in Bengaluru.
The maiden flight of the Tactical Air-Borne Platform-Beyond Horizon (Tapas-BH 201) prototype was held on 16 November at the DRDO's new aeronautical testing range at Challakere near Chitradurga in Karnataka.
"We have to make 10 Tapas aircraft for a series of test flights before applying for certification and demonstrating it to the armed forces its surveillance capability in user trials," said Christopher.
The Rs 1,500-crore project for the indigenous medium-altitude long-endurance drone is meant to replace the Israeli-made Heron UAVs, which are in service with the armed forces.
With inputs from IANS
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