NATIONAL : Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully carried out a flight trial of the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator, an indigenous high-speed flying-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) from the Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga in Karnataka.

The successful flying demonstration of this autonomous stealth UAV is a testimony to the maturity of the technology readiness levels in the country. With this flight in the tailless configuration, India has joined the elite club of countries to have mastered the controls for the flying wing technology, the Government press release said.

This UAV is designed and developed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment. The maiden flight of this aircraft was demonstrated in July 2022, followed by six flight trials in various developmental configurations using two in-house manufactured prototypes, it said.

These flight tests led to achievements in the development of robust aerodynamic and control systems, integrated real-time and hardware-in-loop simulation, and a state-of-the-art Ground Control Station. The team optimized the avionic systems, integration, and flight operations toward the successful seventh flight in the final configuration.

The Govt release also said that the aircraft prototype, with a complex arrowhead wing platform, is designed and manufactured with lightweight carbon prepreg composite material developed indigenously. Also, the composite structure, impregnated with fiber interrogators for health monitoring, is a showcase of ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in aerospace technology. The autonomous landing of this high-speed UAV, without the need for ground radars/infrastructure/pilot, showcased a unique capability demonstration, allowing take-off and landing from any runway with surveyed coordinates. This was possible using onboard sensor data fusion with indigenous satellite-based augmentation using GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) receivers to improve the accuracy and integrity of GPS navigation.