Strengthening indigenous capabilities, India successfully tested the indigenously-designed ABHYAS, a High Speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) in Odisha. The trial was carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Odisha’s Chandipur.
#DRDOforIndia | Strengthening indigenous capabilities, #ABHYAS-HEAT has been successfully flight tested from ITR today. The test demonstrated the performance at low altitude including sustained level & high manoeuvrability. #AtmanirbharDefence@DefenceMinIndia @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/y6a3SBMAk3
— DRDO (@DRDO_India) June 29, 2022
The aircraft is programmed for a fully autonomous flight, which means it flies under the control of automatic systems and needs no intervention from a human pilot.
During the test flight, the aircraft was flown from a ground-based controller to examine its manoeuvrability and performance at low altitudes. The air vehicle was launched using twin under-slung boosters during the demonstration, which provided initial acceleration. It is powered by a small gas turbine engine for endurance flights at high subsonic speed.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO and the Indian armed forces for the successful trial and said that the development of this system woud meet the requirements of aerial targets for the armed forces, a ministry of defence press release stated.
Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh congratulated @DRDO_India, the #ArmedForces and the Industry for successful flight trial of ABHYAS – High speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha, today. https://t.co/vCdkIYfLmN pic.twitter.com/fg3r14gcHI
— A. Bharat Bhushan Babu (@SpokespersonMoD) June 29, 2022
ABHYAS is designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment of DRDO. The target aircraft is equipped with Micro-Electromechanical Systems-based Inertial Navigation System for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer for guidance and control along with Indigenous Radio Altimeter for very low altitude flight and Data Link for encrypted communication between the Ground Control Station and Target Aircraft.
A day earlier, the defence research body and the Army also successfully tested an indigenously-developed anti-tank guided missile in Maharashtra.
“In the test, the ATGM hit the bull’s eye with textbook precision and successfully defeated the target at minimum ranges. Telemetry systems recorded the satisfactory flight performance of the missile,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
#DRDOUpdates | Indigenously developed Laser Guided ATGM was successfully tested today from MBT Arjun. Missile hit the bull’s eye with textbook precision. Trial has established the ATGMs capability to engage targets from min to max ranges. @DefenceMinIndia @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/bwZ25vyfMI
— DRDO (@DRDO_India) June 28, 2022
India also test-fired the Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) in Chandipur last week. The VL-SRSAM is a ship-borne weapon system meant for neutralising various aerial threats at close ranges including sea-skimming targets.
Congratulations to DRDO, Indian Navy & the industry for the successful flight test of Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile off the coast of Chandipur, Odisha. This success will further enhance the defence capability of Indian Naval Ships against the aerial threats. pic.twitter.com/ltkUyhm0iR
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) June 24, 2022