New Delhi, 18 June (Hindustan Times). The team of DRDO and Indian Navy has successfully demonstrated the command and control capabilities of the indigenous Tapas drone. In the demonstration, carried out from a remote ground station on INS Subhadra, 148 km from the Karwar naval base, the UAV flew at an altitude of around 20,000 feet flawlessly. INS Subhadra handled the UAV operations for 40 minutes during the flight duration of 3.30 hours. Tapas drones can be used not only for monitoring borders but also for attacking enemies.
DRDO said in a statement on Sunday that the demonstration was done on June 16 with the Indian Navy team. The indigenous drone Tapas took off at 07.35 from the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, 285 km from the Karwar Naval Base. The demonstration was carried out from a remote ground station on board INS Subhadra, 148 km from the Karwar naval base. It was intended to transfer the command and control capabilities of the Tapas UAV. The UAV successfully demonstrated flying at an altitude of around 20,000 feet. INS Subhadra handled the UAV operations for 40 minutes during the flight of 3.30 hours.
DRDO officials say that a Ground Control Station (GCS) and two Ship Data Terminals (SDT) were set up at INS Subhadra to control the indigenous UAVs. After the test, Tapas landed back in ATR. The Tapas drone has a strike range of 250 km from an altitude of 30,000 feet and is capable of day and night missions. It can carry a payload of up to 350 kg. It is designed to perform intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance missions for the Indian Armed Forces. It is capable of identifying and engaging small targets over a wide area during its mission.
The full name of TAPAS is Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance Beyond Horizon (TAPAS). It is a medium altitude long-endurance drone, similar to the US MQ-1 Predator drone. Tapas is a drone with the ability to take off and land on its own. It was earlier called as Rustom-2, which had a maximum speed of 224 kilometers per hour. The drone with a wing span of 20.6 meters can fly continuously for 1000 kms. It can fly for more than 18 hours at an altitude of 28 thousand feet.
