Posted by-
Neelam Mathews
May 8, 2012
Indigenous RUSTOM-1
made its 14th successful flight this morning at Kolar achieving about 11,500 ft
AGL (above ground level) and speed of above 140 Kmph during 2 hrs 10 minutes of
its cruise, says the MoD. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by
Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO lab at Bangalore, made its maiden flight in Nov
2009. PS Krishnan, Director ADE said the flight was successful. All the
parameters were achieved by the UAV which weighs around 690 Kg.
The
highlights of the flight says MoD are:
Use of lean mixture control system
in the engine for flights at high altitudes.
Takeoff weight being heaviest so far.
Achieved max altitude of 3.5 kms, about 11500
ft.
Extended range of about 50 km tried
out for the first time. The waypoint track was perfect and so were takeoff and
landing etc.,
This UAV has
the potential military missions like Reconnaissance and Surveillance, Target
Acquisition, Target Designation, Communications Relay, Battle Damage Assessment
and Signal Intelligence. It can attain a maximum altitude of 22,000 ft and
endurance of 12-15 Hours with an operating range of 250 Km when fully developed.
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