India's UAV Rustom I Takes to Air

India has flown the homegrown Rustom-1 unmanned aerial vehicle for the first time.

Developed by the DRDO Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the 30-min. flight took place on Oct 16 from a Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Ltd. airfield at Housr, near Bangalore.

“Notwithstanding erratic weather conditions, the UAV had a perfect textbook flight, meeting all mission parameters,” says Dr. Prahlada, Chief Controller at DRDO. It flew to a planned altitude of 3,000 feet.”

The Rustom-1 has autonomous features such as GPS-controlled waypoint navigation. With a maximum endurance of 15 hr., Rustom-1 can carry payloads up to 75 kg. (165 lb.) and climb up to 25,000 ft.

The UAV’s datalink was designed and developed by DRDO’s Defende Electronics Applications Laboratory, located in Dehradun, while the airframe was made by Coimbatore-based private firm Zephyr. DRDO hopes that Rustom-1 will act as a stepping stone for future programs such as the medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV project Rustom-H and an unmanned combat aerial vehicle project.

Svipja Technologies

China-India ‘Match’

China wishes to ‘encircle’ India. The Chinese infrastructure drive is an integral part of its encirclement policy. Three ports that China is building in India’s immediate neighbourhood – Gwadar in Pakistan, Sittwe in Myanmar and Hambantota in Sri Lanka – are important parts of the Chinese strategy. China has a vibrant presence across South Asia. Besides Pakistan, Beijing has emerged as a major player in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. It has firmly entrenched itself in Myanmar (Burma), Mauritius and the Seychelles.

The Chinese Navy’s recent seafaring activities and manoeuvres have revealed Beijing’s intention to increase its control of the maritime sea lanes of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The latter is an obvious cause of concern for India. China’s new-found aggressive posturing and maritime territorial claims in South China Sea – which Beijing has begun to describe as an area of its “core interest”, a term that the Chinese have been using for Tibet, Taiwan and Xinjiang – is of no less concern.

The Indian Navy is ready to counter the challenge. It is the process of beefing up its fleet of stealth frigates and has initiated several new projects. Shivalik will be India’s first stealth frigate of its class. The Sahyadri and Satpura class of frigates are under advanced stage of construction. All this is as per the government’s plans to maintain a force level of more than 140 warships.

India too has intensified its diplomatic and strategic involvement in China’s own backyard – with Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Click to read Full Report: China-India ‘Match’


Svipja Technologies