Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted the flight test of ABHYAS – High Speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from the Interim Test Range, Balasore, Odisha. ABHYAS is designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of DRDO

Usage:

i.The ABHYAS vehicle is a drone and can be used as a target for evaluation of various missile systems.

ii.It can also be used as a decoy aircraft (a deceptive device which is used to draw an enemy away from a more important target).

iii.Abhyas have Radar Cross Section (RCS), Visual and Infrared (IR) augmentation systems which are required for weapon practice.

Highlights:

i.Two demonstrator vehicles were successfully test flown during the trials.

ii.The air vehicle was launched using twin underslung boosters and is powered by a small gas turbine engine.

iii.It has Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation along with Flight Control Computer (FCC) for its guidance and control.

iv.It is programmed for full autonomous flight, and the checkout of the air vehicle is done using a laptop based Ground Control Station (GCS).

Parameters:

During the test, it successfully satisfied the user requirement of 5 km flying altitude, vehicle speed of 0.5 mach, endurance of 30 minutes and 2g turn capability of the test vehicle.

Earlier Tests:

This is the second time that the target vehicle (ABHYAS) was successfully tested. The first successful test was conducted in May 2019.