Rustom 2/TAPAS/BH-201 MALE UAV News Updates and Discussions

Prayash

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Challakere: prime military base of future
ANANTHA KRISHNAN M


Oil and military matters have nothing in common. A sign board on the National Highway at Challakere says: Welcome to the Oil City (because of the numerous edible oil mills around the town). Another board points towards Voru Kaval village, the new home for Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) at Challakere taluk in Chitradurga district of Karnataka.

On May 28, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley will inaugurate the ATR, being set up on the 4,290 acres of land provided by the Karnataka government. Following the completion of the first phase work, the range will be extensively used for testing and evaluating unmanned and manned projects of the DRDO.

The DRDO has already positioned two of its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - Rustom-1 and Rustom-2 TAPAS (Tactical Advanced Platform for Aerial Surveillance) - at the ATR. Once the range becomes fully operational, the DRDO will test air-to-ground weapons, parachutes, aerostats and electric warfare flares. Officials say no test flights of ballistic missiles and commercial airline operations will be conducted at the range, sticking with the guidelines given by the National Green Tribunal.

The current runway at the ATR is 2.2 km and it will be extended by another km in the next phase. This would mean that the DRDO would have trials of its Airborne Early Warning & Control Systems (AEW&C) platform, which is already inducted into the Indian Air Force.

A state-of-the-art Range Control Centre (RCC) has a series of air traffic display systems capable of remote control of radar operations. It has an ATC radio frequency voice communication system, ground telemetry system, mission video distribution and display system and range operational communication system.
The Radar Centre houses the primary and secondary surveillance radars. The ATR is protected by the 8-ft compound periphery wall spread across 20 km with a watch tower at every 2 km. In the coming days, the DRDO plans to have some smart fencing being installed inside the ATR, taking security measures to heightened levels.
The DRDO had activated the range in 2010, just two years after the land was allotted to the defence body. Notwithstanding the ongoing work at the range, a safe drop zone was created for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas to undertake air-to-ground weapon and drop tank jettison trials. Tejas had dropped practice bombs for the first time at the ATR in December 2010.

In the years to come, Tejas MK-2, Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) Ghatak will also find the ATR a suitable home to carry out the trials. With the extension of runway, it is for sure that many fighter jets in future will fly over Challakere to make the best use of the ATR.

The LCA will be the biggest winner with most of its future trials likely to be shifted to the ATR, giving the much-needed relief to the HAL airport in Bengaluru. More hangars are expected to be set up under various wings of the DRDO to undertake dedicated tests of futuristic projects.

Villagers need jobs
Most of the villagers around Challakere are hopeful that the DRDO will provide them jobs. While many local people are engaged in the construction work of the ATR, they are looking for permanent jobs.

They say there are many educated youngsters who hold diploma degree in electrical and electronics and that the DRDO must employ them once ATR is operational. But the DRDO might find this demand a bit tricky, considering its centralised recruitment policy.

While many villagers had earlier protested against the project while joining sides with environmental groups, the DRDO says all matters have been addressed as per the law of the land now. They say all the procedural clearances and the NGT nod are in for the ATR.

Military-industry complex: Ahead of its inauguration on Sunday, the DRDO flew Rustom-1 from ATR to Mandya and back in two hours recently, testing some of the parameters set by the user. With Rustom-2 capable of flying non-stop for 24 hours undertaking various surveillance missions, it is just a matter of time before the DRDO puts the ATR to its full use.

Rustom-2 will also probably fly in front of an invited gathering for the first time on Sunday, soon after the ATR becomes officially operational.

With the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Space Research Organisation too setting up their facilities, Challakere's story is sure to spread. An official at ATR said Challakere will be the future military-industrial complex of India.

With more agencies likely to join the activities, it is a matter of time before Challakere becomes a 'well-oiled' and fully operational military base.

(The writer is a Bengaluru-based independent aerospace journalist)
http://m.deccanherald.com/articles....71/challakere-prime-military-base-future.html
 

Innocent

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2nd prototype of TAPAS 201 (RUSTOM – II) all set for 1st flight
PublishedMay 27, 2017
SOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK


TAPAS 201 PT-2

Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) near Challakere in Chitradurga district which is all set to be inaugurated tomorrow by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley already has a Guest eagerly waiting for the new facility to be opened up. TAPAS 201 PT-2 is the 2nd prototype of TAPAS 201 which already has reached the facility to carry out its first maiden flight soon.

Maiden flight of the 1st prototype of TAPAS 201 (RUSTOM – II) was successfully carried out last year from Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) which is new facility developed for testing of UAVs and manned aircraft.

TAPAS 201 PT-2 comes with a reduced weight of 320 kgs. after DRDO identified 8 target areas which were over engineered but TAPAS 201 is still overweight and DRDO will be incorporating many other changes which will further reduce its weight in newer prototypes.

DRDO plans to develop 10 TAPAS 201 Prototypes in fast track mode so that it can be used to fast track flight trials of different variants of UAV for all different branches of Indian armed force. PT-5 to PT-8 will be used to carry out user evaluation trials which will have payloads like electro-optics, synthetic aperture radar, multifunction phased array radar, electronic intelligence and satcom.

TAPAS 201 has a 21 m wingspan, a capacity payload of 350 kg, an endurance of over 24 hours, and an operational ceiling of 10,660 m (34,776 feet). TAPAS 201 is capable of carrying medium- and long-range optic sensors, synthetic aperture radar, electronic intelligence, communication intelligence, and situational awareness payloads for round-the-clock operations.

NOTE :Article cannot be reproduced without written permission of idrw.org in any form
 

Kay

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Will it be used to target enemy assets or terrorist locations like the US drones?
It's a surveillance drone like Global Hawk but at medium altitude..can be converted to armed drone later.
 

Vijyes

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It's a surveillance drone like Global Hawk but at medium altitude..can be converted to armed drone later.
The whole point of having 350kg payload is to fire missiles. Drones by default have cameras inside them instead of cockpit (else they can't be remote controlled). The additional payload will be short ranged air-surface missiles or turrets. But the poor speed of drone- 150kmph - will make it vulnerable to machine gun fire and RPG fire.

Nevertheless, it will be armed but the government doesn't want to disclose it prematurely
 
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Kay

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The whole point of having 350kg payload is to fire missiles. Drones by default have cameras inside them instead of cockpit (else they can't be remote controlled). The additional payload will be short ranged air-surface missiles or turrets. But the poor speed of drone- 150kmph - will make it vulnerable to machine gun fire and RPG fire.

Nevertheless, it will be armed but the government doesn't want to disclose it prematurely
They have turboprops now limiting service ceiling and speed..maybe they will consider turbofans later to make ita HALE drone
 

Kay

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Air Platforms
India's indigenous Rustom-II UAV completes maiden flight
Rahul Bedi, New Delhi - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
17 November 2016

India's locally developed Rustom-II MALE UAV completed its maiden test flight near Bangalore on 16 November. Source: DRDO
India's locally developed Rustom-II medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE UAV) completed its maiden test flight at the aeronautical test range in Chitradurga, near Bangalore, on 16 November.

Official sources told IHS Jane's that the test flight was limited to a 100 km range even though the UAV's operational range to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions for all three of India's services is expected to reach to 250 km.

India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement that the test flight achieved the main objectives of testing the platform's capabilities such as take-off, banking, level flying, and landing.

Developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics Limited, the first prototype of the 1.8-tonne multimission UAV - known as TAPAS 201 - has a 21 m wingspan, a capacity payload of 350 kg, an endurance of over 24 hours, and an operational ceiling of 10,660 m (34,776 feet), according to the MoD.

The public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is also a production partner in the programme.

The MoD said that the Rustom-II/TAPAS 201 is capable of carrying medium- and long-range optic sensors, synthetic aperture radar, electronic intelligence, communication intelligence, and situational awareness payloads for round-the-clock operations.

The UAV is powered by two Russian NPO Saturn 36T turboprop engines rated at 100 hp each. The UAV's airframe, landing gear, digital flight control, avionic, and navigational systems have all been sourced locally from public and private sector companies.

DRDO officials said the Rustom-II/TAPAS 201 would undertake further trials to validate its design parameters before conducting user trials with the respective services.

The UAV is a derivative of the Rustom-I, which conducted its first test flight in October 2010 and was designed primarily as a test bed for more advanced variants. However, DRDO sources said that the Rustom-I is also expected to enter limited service, possibly with the Indian Navy.

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I guess Rustom-1 had piston engine...Rustom-2 has turboprops..
Sorry if the above was posted before
 

xeaaex

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Nice development and nice plane, and ofcourse haters will hate because that's what they can do best and it's always easier to comment on forum instead of actually doing something worth.
 

TPFscopes

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2017-05-28--17_56_06.jpg

Some sharp minds are ignoring mistakes and call others "haters".
Marked correction need to be done before first flight.
 

xeaaex

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Some people just don't know that all scews must have not been fixed at that particular time because they must have been checking and re testing all the auxiliary equipment inside the compartment so that ther wont be a unexpected problem during flight, which can lead to failure.
 

TPFscopes

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One guy is feeling too much insecurity.:scared2:

@sayareakd
Thanks for screenshot.
Actually right now I'm traveling to my home location after a long duration.
I've no access to laptop hence unable to watch it in HD.
 

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