India's Current & Future UAVs & UCAVs

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India investing heavily to develop indigenous Unmanned Combat Systems
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India is investing in developing unmanned vehicles as it prepares for an approaching era of soldier-less battlefields despite the current void in policies governing how they will be used.
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Government-run labs of the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and National Aeronautics Ltd, along with state-owned defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, are working on several drone projects, starting with vehicles that weigh under 1 kg to Rustom II, which will have a payload capacity of 350 kg.
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The DRDO is putting together a policy document for the year 2020 as well as a more advanced one for 2025, which has laid emphasis on building the country’s drone capabilities.
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“We have good capability in terms of software and several foreign companies are coming in, which means production capabilities are bound to get developed. Why can’t we put the two together and create UAVs for the air, ground and underwater?” said S Christopher, chairman of the DRDO, recently.
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According to business-standard.com, the DRDO is working on a series of unmanned vehicles including unmanned combat aircraft, or UCAV, which will be powered by the homegrown Kaveri engine.
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The vast amount of global manufacturers displaying UAVs at Aero India this year signaled the interest of India’s armed forces to procure these machines. Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit, Saab, Boeing and many other smaller players gave a prominent display of their drones, some of which were capable of weaponised warfare. JK Organisation has announced its foray into India’s drone market in partnership with Canadian firm MicroPilot. There are commercial sectors that will benefit from this.
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“The demand for mini-UAVs is currently really constrained by a lack of clarity on the regulations, which is expected to go away in the next few months. Once that’s behind us, we expect the market to grow by at least three times in the next three years,” said Rajesh Kakkar, chief executive, Global Strategic Technologies Ltd, JK Organisation.
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JK’s Deepti Electronics & Electro-Optics Pvt Ltd (DELOPT) unit, which currently builds payloads such as cameras for small drones, has partnered Canadian firm MicroPilot to supply the autopilot system for these UAVs. With this, DELOPT hopes to become an even larger supplier of drone ancillaries to the armed forces, paramilitary or police, which are looking to deploy drone platforms built by other manufacturers.
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Trinetra

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Update about Ghatak program..

UPDATE / 7 MARCH: Livefist can now confirm that a metal full-scale model of the Ghatak is currently under fabrication by a private firm in Bengaluru in coordination with the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA). The exercise was ordered late last year by DRDO chief Dr S. Christopher. The full-scale model will look to serve two preliminary purposes: gauge detection range and ‘dry’ radar cross section, i.e., prior to the application of in-development advanced low-observability/RCS reduction features and/or special coatings. Livefist has also learnt that the DRDO and Dassault Aviation are in detailed discussions on the utilisation of part of the latter’s offset commitments from the Rafale deal to bring advanced technologies and software (some of it from the nEUROn programme) to the Ghatak project and help speed things up till the full-scale engineering & design (FSED) phase. Teams from Dassault and ADA have met twice, with a third engagement likely in May this year. A team from ADA has also been invited to France to get a closer look at Dassault’s work in the UCAV space centred around the nEUROn programme.
 
tsunami

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EXCLUSIVE: India’s Ghatak Stealth UCAV Moves Forward, Likely With Dassault

UPDATE / 7 MARCH: Livefist can now confirm that a metal full-scale model of the Ghatak is currently under fabrication by a private firm in Bengaluru in coordination with the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA). The exercise was ordered late last year by DRDO chief Dr S. Christopher. The full-scale model will look to serve two preliminary purposes: gauge detection range and ‘dry’ radar cross section, i.e., prior to the application of in-development advanced low-observability/RCS reduction features and/or special coatings. Livefist has also learnt that the DRDO and Dassault Aviation are in detailed discussions on the utilisation of part of the latter’s offset commitments from the Rafale deal to bring advanced technologies and software (some of it from the nEUROn programme) to the Ghatak project and help speed things up till the full-scale engineering & design (FSED) phase. Teams from Dassault and ADA have met twice, with a third engagement likely in May this year. A team from ADA has also been invited to France to get a closer look at Dassault’s work in the UCAV space centred around the nEUROn programme.

http://www.livefistdefence.com/2017/02/exclusive-indias-ghatak-stealth-ucav-moves-forward.html
 
Indx TechStyle

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Trinetra said:
Which Model is this?? Is this model being developed by DRDO or ADA?? This is not Ghatak Program as far as i understand..
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Well, this is sleek fixed wing UAV by IIT Madras but it is unrelated to Ghatak.:p
Official impression of Ghatak is on previous pages.
 
AbRaj

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Scrutator said:
What would be awesome is if India's AURA/Ghatak UCAV were mounted with a radome on top housing a long range AESA radar. That would make it an unmanned AWACS!!! (this version needn't carry too many weapons other than probably couple of AAMs for self protection)

Firstly the unmanned AWACS would be stealthy (due to its size and airframe) and as such not that exposed to some of the AWACS-killing AAMs. Secondly the surveillance team would be safe on the ground.

And lastly - it would be a very inexpensive AWACS!! Currently the platform (plane) to host the radar (and the surveillance team) is the most expensive component. The platform-to-radar cost ratio is probably around 100:1. IAF could possibly acquire these AURA/Ghatak AWACS for around $25-$30 million a piece as opposed to the current price of $300-$400 million a piece for conventional AWACS (even the domestic AWACS has a foreign plane like Embraer/Airbus)!!
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A bomber emitting EM signature is worst thing to imagine. They are designed as stealth bomber for a reason as they are not highly maneuverable.
Even F22 doesn't switch on its radar 99%of times
 
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Project to develop unmanned variant of Tejas planes in works

NEW DELHI: In what would break new ground, India has started work on developing an unmanned combat version of the home-grown light combat aircraft (LCA), with a task group being constituted to study how to convert the fighter for a futuristic role.

A team has already started work on the project to convert the LCA into a drone and India’s premier aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is confident that the project can be carried out within a short time frame.

“We have started an internal study on making a unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) on the Tejas platform. Besides, we are confident on coming up with an unmanned version of Chetak helicopter as well,” HAL Chief T Suvarna Raju told ET.

The Air Force has already placed orders for 123 LCA fighters and HAL is targeting a gap of 200 fighters that the Air Force will face in coming years.

An unmanned version of the LCA could be used for cross-border strikes — missions that place a high risk on pilots in case of a ditching in enemy territory. India is also working on a project named AURA to make a futuristic combat drone that would be powered by a modified version of the Kaveri engine.

The drone, however, is several years away as the project is still at the design stage. While unmanned LCA would be no match for a futuristic stealth drone, officials pointed that out converting a flying platform into an autonomous unit could be faster and cheaper short term option.

The US, for example, uses unmanned F-16 fighters for aerial target practice.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...ejas-planes-in-works/articleshow/57741657.cms
 
smestarz

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You are right abt it,
But there are two options as per my view
a) A Su-30 MKI armed with very basic A2A weaponry 4 Long range and 2 short range, and the plane having another AESA in its back "hump". This might in a way be just outside an active war zone and give more clearer picture to our top officers. Also it can co-ordinate with the bigger PHALCON AWACS in terms of co-ordinating the operations. The WSO (second pilot) will be having the monitors to monitor critical data and importantly the detailed analysis done by the AESA would be done at the ground centre. Thus the Specialised plane only becomes the avionics carrier and some critical tactical info is available for WSO.

2nd would be to have some avionics on HALE UAV this might be tough, and for this, best not to put cutting edge tech but low - medium end tech, just in case.

It will be unmanned in terms of not having actual pilots but will have two Armed commandos who can perform some flying and some technical checkings. The interphase will be
AbRaj said:
A bomber emitting EM signature is worst thing to imagine. They are designed as stealth bomber for a reason as they are not highly maneuverable.
Even F22 doesn't switch on its radar 99%of times
Click to expand...
 
AbRaj

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smestarz said:
You are right abt it,
But there are two options as per my view
a) A Su-30 MKI armed with very basic A2A weaponry 4 Long range and 2 short range, and the plane having another AESA in its back "hump". This might in a way be just outside an active war zone and give more clearer picture to our top officers. Also it can co-ordinate with the bigger PHALCON AWACS in terms of co-ordinating the operations. The WSO (second pilot) will be having the monitors to monitor critical data and importantly the detailed analysis done by the AESA would be done at the ground centre. Thus the Specialised plane only becomes the avionics carrier and some critical tactical info is available for WSO.

2nd would be to have some avionics on HALE UAV this might be tough, and for this, best not to put cutting edge tech but low - medium end tech, just in case.

It will be unmanned in terms of not having actual pilots but will have two Armed commandos who can perform some flying and some technical checkings. The interphase will be
Click to expand...
smestarz said:
You are right abt it,
But there are two options as per my view
a) A Su-30 MKI armed with very basic A2A weaponry 4 Long range and 2 short range, and the plane having another AESA in its back "hump". This might in a way be just outside an active war zone and give more clearer picture to our top officers. Also it can co-ordinate with the bigger PHALCON AWACS in terms of co-ordinating the operations. The WSO (second pilot) will be having the monitors to monitor critical data and importantly the detailed analysis done by the AESA would be done at the ground centre. Thus the Specialised plane only becomes the avionics carrier and some critical tactical info is available for WSO.

2nd would be to have some avionics on HALE UAV this might be tough, and for this, best not to put cutting edge tech but low - medium end tech, just in case.

It will be unmanned in terms of not having actual pilots but will have two Armed commandos who can perform some flying and some technical checkings. The interphase will be
Click to expand...
A Falcon or a Hawkeye need not to be in (or over)combat zone to monitor enemy movements. They've more than required coverage to Scan whole Pakistan while flying safely in Indian air space.
Besides stealth planes are very costly to produce and much more to maintain.
So why waste it in useless things.
 
Kunal Biswas

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Netra Drones ..

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Kunal Biswas

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