Indigenously developed TAPAS UAV (Tactical Advanced Platform for Aerial Surveillance) Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV, earlier called as Rustom-II have entered user trials stage since 2022-end.
Developed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the UAV is expected to complete user trials by August 2023, and then subsequently will be manufactured by DPSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), which is the production partner.
HAL will manufacture five production models initially, with these being expected to be ready in five or six months.
Primarily meant for ISTAR missions, TAPAS is capable of being equipped with the following payloads: LREO, MREO, ELINT, COMINT and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with sub-meter resolution among others. A naval variant will be equipped with a maritime patrol radar with SAR, ISAR and weather modes.
Notably, the UAV is also capable of being armed.
