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| Nishant UAV (Wiki Info) |
By Tony Osborne in Linkoping, Sweden
India's armed forces are set to become highly reliant on unmanned aerial systems by 2030, according to a scientist with the country's Defence Research and Development (DRDO).
'By 2030, the percentage of the manned fleet will have been reduced significantly,' said Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, scientific advisor and secretary of the DRDO, speaking at the Aerospace Forum Sweden being held at Malmen AB, near Linkoping on 31 May.
'But it depends very much on how smart and intelligent we can make these [unmanned] systems,' added Saraswat.
In his presentation, Saraswat highlighted a large number of the technologies currently being developed by the DRDO.
Currently the organisation is flying the Nishant UAV, a catapult launched, parachute recovered low-altitude surveillance system, as well as the Rustom 1 MALE system. Now the DRDO is working on the Rustom 2, this aircraft will have a 5km altitude and an endurance of 24 hours.
Read the full story at Shephard