Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Drone Technologies by DRDO

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, are advanced military aircraft or vehicles operated either autonomously or via remote control. They are equipped with sensors, weapons, or electronic systems designed for surveillance, reconnaissance, and combat missions. India has developed a range of UAV technologies, enhancing its defense capabilities across various domains.

An Overview of Advanced UAV and Drone Technologies Developed by DRDO

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or Drone is a military aircraft/land-water based vehicle that is guided autonomously, by remote control, or both and that carries sensors, target designators, offensive ordnance, or electronic transmitters designed to interfere with or destroy enemy targets. 

• Lakshya 2 [Advanced Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA)]: Lakshya 2 (developed by DRDO) is an advanced version of Lakshya 1. 
  • Capabilities: It has enhanced endurance, autonomous and low-level flight capability, and salvo flying capability.  
  • Delivery Configuration: Lakshya weapon delivery configuration has also been developed for delivery at known coordinates. 

• Nishant: It is a multi-mission UAV (developed by DRDO) launched using a Mobile Hydro-pneumatic Launcher with Day/Night capability used for battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance, target tracking & localisation. 
  • Nishant has been inducted into the Indian Army.
• Panchi: Panchi is a variant of Nishant (launcher-based tactical UAV) with capability of conventional take-off/landing and has improved flight envelope and endurance.
• Daksh-Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV): It is versatile equipment for improvised explosive device identification and handling and can also be utilised to survey and monitor nuclear and chemical contamination levels. 
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-NETRA: This mini UAV developed for surveillance applications is silent, battery-operated, and equipped for both day and night operations.
• Confined Space Remotely Operated Vehicle (CSROV): DAKSH MINI is a battery-operated tracked vehicle with multiple degrees of freedom manipulator arm (telescopic arm) capable of extracting suspicious objects.
• Unexploded Ordnance Handling Robot (UXOR): It is capable of handling, diffusing and detecting Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), i.e. Bombs and Missiles up to 1000 kg remotely from 1km.
• Rustom 2: It is part of the Rustom line of UAVs being developed by DRDO that includes Rustom 1, Rustom H and Rustom C. 
  • It can fly at over 22,000 ft and is a long-endurance (MALE) UAV that has an approximate flight time of 20 h. 
  • It can fly at around 280 km/h and carry a variety of payloads like MREO, LREO, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Communication Intelligence (COMINT) and Situational Awareness Payloads (SAP) that help in performing missions even during the night.  
  • It has been developed for use by all three services of the Indian armed forces.

NETRA  Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C/AWAC) 

Multi-Sensor Platform Development: It is a multi-sensor platform developed by DRDO in collaboration with the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS). 

• AESA Radar System: Netra has an indigenous Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system mounted on the Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft, which can track and find aircraft, missiles, ships and vehicles. 
• In-Flight Refueling Capability: It can receive fuel in flight, which can double its flight time endurance to nine hours. 
• Range: It has electronic scan coverage of 240 degrees up to a range of 500 km.

Conclusion

India has made significant strides in developing advanced UAV technologies for defense purposes. These unmanned systems like Lakshya 2 and Rustom 2 enhance surveillance, reconnaissance, and combat capabilities across land, water, and air. 

• With innovations like Nishant and NETRA, these drones play crucial roles in monitoring, identifying threats, and handling hazardous situations, bolstering India’s defense capabilities effectively.

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