The Hindu Business Line : Use of unmanned planes set to soar

SEEING potential in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), both in defence and civilian applications, the Aeronautical Society of India, is to host a workshop at Research Centre Imarat (RCI) here on Sunday.

Dr V.K. Saraswat, Programme Director, DRDL (Defence Research and Development Laboratory), two speakers from Israel aircraft industries, leaders in production of UAVs and aeronautical experts will take part in the workshop.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, representatives of the Aeronautical Society of India, Hyderabad Chapter, said futuristic vehicles would be miniaturised to give flexibility in use by employing technologies at RCI.

New facilities for advanced composites and miniaturised power plants are being created to cater to future needs.

By integrating computational technologies at the DRDO labs, future vehicles with robotic functions with multiple link movements would be realised. Such mini-air vehicles and rotocopters will have many civilian offshoots for critical operations.

The flapping wing technology with actuators will bring man close to producing a flying bird that listens to commands and executes with perfection, in all kinds of adverse situations.

According to the aeronautical society, the development of unmanned air vehicles has gained tremendous importance in warfare. They have been used for both military and civilian purposes extensively in the recent past.

Depending on the needs, they are custom-built with different payloads to serve specific purposes. These vehicles may be big to stay airborne continuously for 48 hours or be as small as a bird.

The country has been actively involved in the development of UAVs for almost a decade. Vehicles such as Lakshya and Nishant are actively used.

DRDO has embarked on a major developmental programme to make India self-reliant in UAVs. Since the focus is on being futuristic, experts believe there could be many direct offshoots for civilian applications.

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