India successfully flight-tests High-Speed Expendable Aerial Target drone ‘Abhyas’

New Delhi: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has again successfully flight-tested the High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) 'Abhyas' on Friday. The test was conducted at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Odisha. Earlier, two HEAT 'Abhyas' demonstrator vehicles were successfully test flown on September 22, 2020. Abhyas can be used as an aerial target for the evaluation of various missile systems. The performance of the target aircraft was monitored through telemetry and various tracking sensors including Radars and Electro-Optical Tracking System (EOTS).

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO for the successful flight trial of Abhyas. The current flight test is carried out as a part of developmental flight trials. Expression of interest for the production of the HEAT drones has already been floated to Indian industries. This indigenous target aircraft, once developed, will meet the requirements of High-speed Expendable Aerial Targets for the Indian Armed Forces.

Abhyas has been designed & developed by DRDO's Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru. The air vehicle is launched using twin under-slung boosters which provide the initial acceleration to the vehicle. It is powered by a gas turbine engine to sustain a long endurance flight at subsonic speed. The target aircraft is equipped with MEMS-based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control.

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The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight. The check-out of air vehicle is done using a laptop-based Ground Control Station (GCS).

Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO also congratulated the teams associated with the successful flight test of 'Abhyas' and termed it as a force-multiplier considering its accuracy and effectiveness.

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