Ghatak is an autonomous jet powered stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), being developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Air Force.[2][3] The design work on the UCAV is to be carried out by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA). Autonomous Unmanned Research Aircraft (AURA) was a tentative name for the UCAV.[4][5] Details of the project are classified.[6]
| Ghatak | |
|---|---|
| |
| A scaled down technology demonstrator of DRDO GHATAK | |
| Role | Stealth Unmanned Combat aerial Vehicle |
| National origin | Indien |
| Designer | Aeronautical Development Agency Aeronautical Development Establishment Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur |
| First flight | 1 July, 2022[1] |
| Status | Taxi trials, autonomous take off and landing of technology demonstrator completed. |
| Primary user | Indian Air Force (expected) |
The UCAV will be capable of releasing missiles, bombs and precision-guided munitions. The programme is in its project definition stage. The design is in line with what former DRDO chief controller for Aeronautics said in 2007, that India's combat drone would be a stealthy flying-wing concept aircraft with internal weapons bay and a turbofan engine.
First flight of a scaled down testbed was carried out in July 2022,[7] and that of a full scale prototype is expected in 2024–25.
Description
The Ghatak is an autonomous jet powered stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), being developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE).[8] It was initially called the Autonomous Unmanned Research Aircraft (AURA),[5] but was eventually renamed as Ghatak UCAV.[1][4] In 2015, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar informed Rajya Sabha that Ghatak UCAV will be powered by a dry variant of Kaveri afterburning turbofan engine,[9] which will have a thrust of 52 kilonewtons.[4]
The flight control system and data link packages of the UCAV will be developed inhouse by ADA and Defence Electronics Application Laboratory.[10]
DRDO's Chief Controller, R&D (aeronautics), Dr Prahlada said, "capable of flying at altitudes of 30,000 ft [9,144 m] and weighing less than 15 tonnes, the UCAVs will have rail-launching for the missiles, bombs and PGMs (precision-guided munitions) they will carry."[11] It is said to employ a fluid thrust vectoring method.
Development
Project Ghatak
Project Ghatak was initiated as a successor to the 2009 AURA (Autonomous Unmanned Research Aircraft) programme. The AURA was a pioneer programme sanctioned in 2009 with a budget of ₹125 million (equivalent to ₹310 million or US$3.8 million in 2023), to carryout a feasibility study for the future Indian UCAV. The AURA programme was completed in April 2013.[4] The project Ghatak was initiated by ADA in consultation with the Indian Air Force (IAF), with an objective to develop a stealthy UCAV based on flying wing design.[4] The flying wing configuration is inherently stealthy, can carry more fuel and payload than conventional UCAV designs, however it has more complex flight control surfaces and laws.[12] Times Now news quoting DRDO scientists reports that this design ensures optimum fuel use and stability for the aircraft.[13] The Ghatak UCAV is projected to weigh less than a fighter jet and is intended to be powered by a 'dry engine' derivative of GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri turbofan engine capable of producing a thrust of 52 kN.[4] According to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) document dated to 2017, an initial fund of ₹2.31 billion (equivalent to ₹3.3 billion or US$40 million in 2023) had been allocated in 2016 for the design of Ghatak and development of critical advanced Technologies for Ghatak & HAL AMCA.[14][1] The Indian Navy is also interested in the project, and is keen on acquiring deck based UCAVs for future aircraft carriers and Landing Platform Docks (LPD).[15]
Stealth Wing Flying Testbed (SWiFT)
The development of a scaled down technology demonstrator of Ghatak UCAV called Stealth Wing Flying Testbed (SWiFT), has began in 2020.[15] According to DRDO, the SWiFT UAV is intended to develop and demonstrate technologies for controlling the flying wing configuration and flight characteristics at high-subsonic speed.[12] The ground trials of SWiFT UAV has began in June 2021, picture and videos of it carrying out taxi trials surfaced on 29 October 2021. It had resemblance to the US Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.[12] The SWiFT UAV has a length of 4 metres and a wingspan of 5 metres.[16][13] The weigh of Swift UAV is around 1 tonne, and it uses a NPO Saturn 36MT[13] or TRDD-50MT turbofan engine.[7]
The SWiFT UAV (technology demonstrator of Ghatak UCAV) took its maiden flight on 1 July 2022.[7] According to DRDO, the aircraft exhibited a perfect flight, including take-off, way-point navigation and a smooth touchdown while operating in a fully autonomous mode.[8] The airframe, undercarriage and entire flight control and avionics systems used for the aircraft (SWiFT UAV) were developed indigenously.[7] Apart from being a precursor for technology development related to Ghatak project, SWiFT might also move ahead as separate project under unmanned wingman bomber program.[16]
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
References
- ^ a b c Aroor, Shiv. "EXCLUSIVE: Inside The World Of India's Most Secret Combat Aircraft Program". Livefist. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ "India to develop unmanned combat aerial vehicle". Hindustan Times. IANS. 25 November 2009.
- ^ "New Imagery Details Indian Aura UCAV". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 16 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f "India set to develop own stealth combat drones". The Times of India. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ a b Pubby, Manu (15 July 2018). "Government set to clear Rs 3,000 crore plan to develop engine for India's first UCAV". The Economic Times. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ "India developing unmanned combat aerial vehicle". India Today. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ a b c d Peri, Dinakar (1 July 2022). "DRDO flight tests new autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ a b Alex Philip, Snehesh (1 July 2022). "'Major milestone': India conducts maiden flight of unmanned aircraft demonstrator". ThePrint. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "Indigenous Kaveri engine to power Unmanned Combat Aircraft". Business Standard. PTI. 30 July 2015.
- ^ Ghosh, Anirvan (17 January 2011). "We never had a single failure in 1,500 flights of Tejas: ADE". The Economic Times. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ Pandit, Rajat (11 April 2011). "India quietly begins combat drone project". The Economic Times.
- ^ a b c "DRDO's stealth attack UAV back in focus as footage of demonstrator emerges". The Week. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ a b c Hazra, Dipavali (2 July 2022). "DRDO takes major step towards developing unmanned combat aerial vehicles: Explained". TimesNow. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "DRDO Projects". Ministry of Defence. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2019 – via Press Information Bureau.
- ^ a b Krishnan M, Anantha (10 January 2021). "ADE steps into new decade with planeloads of critical projects". OnManorama. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ a b "DRDO initiates the trials of advanced stealth SWiFT drone". NewsOnAIR -. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
External links
Technical: