The Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has only received the “mandate” from the Government to develop unmanned vehicles for use in “surveillance operations not for combat”, said ADE Director P.S. Krishnan on Friday.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the second International Conference on Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles (ICAUV), near Bangalore, Mr. Krishnan said that the integration of Rustom II, a medium altitude long endurance Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV), is likely to be completed by 2013. “We still need to identify an integrator for the aircraft,” he said.
Mr. Krishnan said that the ADE is developing a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle. “We have just commenced work on the project,” he said when asked about the timeline for the project.
Various issues pertaining to the design and development of unmanned vehicles — for use on land, underwater, in the sky and in space — are being discussed at the two-day event.
Mr. Krishnan said that Nishant, unmanned aerial vehicle designed by the ADE for intelligence gathering operations, is being used by pilots of the three services for training purposes.
Siva S. Banda, Chief Scientist, Air Vehicles Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFSL) of the U.S. Air Force, said that although defence budgets are under strain world over, governments are all “investing in some form of robotics”.
“The future of unmanned vehicles is incredibly bright,” Dr. Banda remarked in his keynote address. Referring to the need for greater international cooperation, he pointed out that the ADE and the AFSL have an agreement for conducting joint research.
A. Subhananda Rao, Chief Controller, Research and Development (Aeronautics), who described unmanned vehicles as “a game changer”, said that their current “slow speeds restricts their usage within our own airspace”.
He said that new technologies such as the development of composite materials, sensors and spectral imagery enhance the capability and range of such vehicles. The objective is to develop technologies that will give these vehicles “situational awareness” so that they can perform hazardous operations, he said.
More than 500 delegates from 15 countries are participating in the event. A technology exposition is being held concurrently.
