NEW DELHI: The Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully carried out four flight trials of ABHYAS from January 30 to February 2, from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur with four different mission objectives in revised robust configuration using single booster designed by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Hyderabad to provide reduced launch acceleration.
The objectives like the safe release of the booster, launcher clearance, and attaining the required end-of-launch velocity were achieved. During the flight trials various parameters like required endurance, speed, manoeuvrability, altitude and range were successfully validated, the DRDO release stated.
High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) – ABHYAS designed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) offers a realistic threat scenario for the practice of weapon systems and is designed for autonomous flying with the help of an auto pilot indigenously designed and developed by ADE.
ABHYAS has an RCS, Visual and IR augmentation system required for weapon practice. It has a laptop-based Ground Control System (GCS) with which, the aircraft can be integrated, pre-flight checks, flight, data recording during flight, replay after the flight and post-flight analysis can be done.
The indigenous operation-friendly ABHYAS requires minimum logistics and is cost-effective compared to imported equivalents.
The systems tested recently were realised through Production Agencies (PAs) L-T Defence and HAL. With identified production agencies, ABHYAS is ready for production. The system has export potential and can be offered to friendly countries.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, the Armed Forces and the Industry for the successful flight trial of ABHYAS and said that development of this system will meet the requirements of aerial targets for the Armed Forces.
Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO appreciated the efforts of the teams associated with the design, development and testing of the system. (ANI)