RUSTOM II

TAPAS 201 - MILITARY DRONES

FIRST FLIGHT VIDEO

BACKGROUND

• Earlier named as RUSTOM II (English Warrior) is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).

• Being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation for the three services, Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force of the Indian Armed Forces.

• Rustom is derived from the NAL's LCRA (Light Canard Research Aircraft) developed by a team under the leadership of late Prof Rustom Damania in the 1980s.

TECHNOLOGY & ROLES

• It is described as MALE UAS (medium-altitude, long endurance unmanned aircraft system).

• Rustom-2 is an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) developed by India on the lines of the American Predator drones

• The Rustom-II is being developed as a long endurance surveillance platform capable of deploying precision weapons.

• It will carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles for all the three armed forces in India.

• Rustom 2 had a successful first flight on 16th Nov 2016 at Challakere, 200 km away from Bengaluru. Reportedly.

• It has a wing span of 20 meters and endurance of up to 30 hours.

• Many critical systems such as airframe, landing gear, flight control and avionics sub-systems are being developed in India with the collaboration of private industries.

• Rustom-II will undergo further trials for validating the design parameters, before going for User Validation Trials.

PERFORMANCE & DESCRIPTION  

Maximum Speed	225 Km/hr
Payload	350 Kg
Length	9.5 m
Wingspan	20.6 m
Empty Weight	1800 Kg
Range Relay Communication	350 Km
Ferry Range	1000 Km
Service Ceiling	35000 ft

EXPLANATION

• All though it took off in its first test but still long wait ahead as TAPAS have to undergo many tests initially than for validation trails, Initial test time might be up to 4 months or more than validation trials it will take more than a year to be inducted into armed forces &is underway to define the weaponisation process.

• DRDO decides to produce 10 unmanned aircraft like Rustom-II.