In the first week of January 2020, two MQ-9 Reaper drones took off from an airbase in Kuwait and travelled 600 km to hover over Baghdad international airport. Seconds after the green signal, the drones fired missiles IN to knock out two cars that were leaving the airport. The attack killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran's Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chairman of Hashd alShaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces), an Iran-backed militia in Iraq. The Reapers' precision stunned the world.
Two and a half years later, India's defence scientists showed the world that the country too has the capability to carry out such precision strikes. The DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) announced that it has successfully tested a combat drone, also called the 'autonomous flying wing technology demonstrator' at the aeronautical test range in Karnataka's Chitradurga. The drone did not stay aloft for the full test time of an hour, but it was enough to send a message to the world about India's growing unmanned offensive capability.
Designed and developed by the DRDO's Bangaluru-based Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the Stealth Wing Flying Testbed (SWIFT) UAV is a technology demonstrator and a prototype (scaled-down version) for the upcoming unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) also known as the Ghatak combat drone. While the SWIFT weighs just one tonne, the Ghatak UCAV is expected to be 13 tonnes.
The SWIFT project was sanctioned in 2016 with barely Rs 70 crore in funds. Its main intent was to demonstrate and prove the stealth technology and high-speed landing technology in autonomous mode, says a defence scientist.
The SWIFT project was sanctioned in 2016 and got Rs 70 crore in funds with the proviso that it would demonstrate and prove the stealth technology
This story is from the July 18, 2022 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 18, 2022 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Shuttle Star
Ashwini Ponnappa was the only Indian to compete in the inaugural edition of BDMNTN-XL, a new international badminton tourney with a new format, held in Indonesia
There's No Planet B
All Living Things-Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) returns with 72 films to be screened across multiple locations from Nov. 22 to Dec. 8
AMPED UP AND UNPLUGGED
THE MAHINDRA INDEPENDENCE ROCK FESTIVAL PROMISES AN INTERESTING LINE-UP OF OLD AND NEW ACTS, CEMENTING ITS REPUTATION AS THE 'WOODSTOCK OF INDIA'
A Musical Marriage
Faezeh Jalali has returned to the Prithvi Theatre Festival with Runaway Brides, a hilarious musical about Indian weddings
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Nikhil Advani’s adaptation of Freedom at Midnight details our tumultuous transition to an independent nation
Family Saga
RAMONA SEN's The Lady on the Horse doesn't lose its pace while narrating the story of five generations of a family in Calcutta
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
Prayaag Akbar's new novel delves into the complexities of contemporary India
TURNING A NEW LEAF
Since the turn of the century, we have lost hundreds of thousands of trees. Many had stood for centuries, weathering storms, wars, droughts and famines.
INDIA'S BEATING GREEN HEART
Ramachandra Guha's new book-Speaking with Nature-is a chronicle of homegrown environmentalism that speaks to the world
A NEW LEASE FOR OLD FILMS
NOSTALGIA AND CURIOSITY BRING AUDIENCES BACK TO THE THEATRES TO REVISIT MOVIES OF THE YESTERYEARS
