The Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have shown interest in the indigenously designed and developed Tapas drones.
As of now, the IN and IAF have already held discussions and communicated with the Defence Research and Development Organisation regarding the capabilities of the drone and the roles it can perform in the services.
The Tapas medium altitude long endurance drone capabilities were discussed in detail during a DRDO interaction with the forces.
The Indian Air Force has also written to the DRDO in this regard.
The DRDO is also likely to hand over the two Tapas drones in its inventory to the Indian Navy for trials and testing in the Andaman and Nicobar Island territory.
If the trials are successful and meet the roles for which the force wants them, there is a possibility of the Indian Navy placing orders for around 10-12 drones.
The IAF would also look at the performance of the drones along with other issues before it decides further on the issue.
The DRDO recently rubbished reports about shelving of the Tapas drone project and announced that it is continuing with it to further develop the Tapas drones.
The Tapas drones being developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment Laboratory have not been able to fully meet the Joint Services Qualitative Requirements of flying at 30,000 feet for over 24 hours at a stretch and have been excluded from the category of mission mode projects.
The Tapas drones have been tested by the defence forces and during the trials, they managed to reach 28,000 feet altitude and could fly for over 18 hours.
DRDO officials said the laboratory concerned would be working on improving designs and increasing the power in the drone to make it more suitable for service requirements of altitude and endurance, which it was not able to meet in the recent evaluations.
Source: https://aninews.in/
About Tapas Drones
Designed and developed in response to the tri-services Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, Tracking, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) needs, the Tapas BH-201 Drone / UAV prioritizes long-endurance capabilities, boasting an impressive command range of 1000 kilometers.
Once the UAV completes its final stage of trials, it will be an invaluable asset to the Indian armed forces, contributing to significant cost savings and enhancing its operational capabilities.
TAPAS BH-201 is a MALE UAV with an operating altitude of 30000 ft, endurance of 24 hrs with EO & SAR payloads and a range of 250 kms.
Further, iIt can carry a variety of payloads up to a maximum of 350 kgs. Rustom-2 is a platform designed to perform Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance missions for Indian Armed Forces.
Its mission requirements are to provide continuous wide area coverage and yet be able to identify small targets
