Odisha: DRDO conducts successful test flight of ABHYAS, Rajnath lauds achievement

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Tuesday conducted a successful flight test of ABHYAS - High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha. During the trials, two demonstrator vehicles were successfully test flown.

Congratulating DRDO on its achievement, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said ABHYAS can be used as a target for
evaluation of missile systems.

According to the Ministry of Defence, ABHYAS is designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) and DRDO. The air vehicle is launched using a twin underslung booster and is powered by a small gas turbine engine and has MEMS-based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control. The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight while check out of air vehicle is done using laptop-based Ground Control Station (GCS). 

During the test campaign, the user requirement of 5 km flying altitude, vehicle speed of 0.5 Mach, an endurance of 30 minutes, and 2g turn capability of the test vehicle were successfully achieved.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also congratulated the DRDO on the success.

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Hypersonic tech success

ABHYAS comes just two weeks after India on September 7 successfully flight tested the indigenously-developed hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV) that is expected to power futuristic long-range missile systems and aerial platforms.

The DRDO-developed HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight, which can fly at a speed of Mach 6 and move up to an altitude of 32.5 km in 20 seconds. Besides its utility for long-range air missiles, the technology will have multiple civilian applications too. As per the government, it can also be used for launching satellites at low cost.

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(Image: @SpokespersonMoD | Twitterr)