Journalism of Courage
Abhyas, a high-speed expendable aerial target (HEAT), developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation as a target for the testing of missile systems was successfully flight tested from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), off the coast of Odisha Wednesday.
Abhyas has been developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a Bengaluru-based facility of the DRDO. Abhyas has been tested multiple times by the DRDO in the recent past in different configurations.
DRDO officials said that Abhyas – an originally Sanskrit word for practice or preparatory exercise – offers a realistic threat scenario for practice of various weapon systems and has been designed for autonomous flying with the help of an autopilot system onboard.
For Wednesday’s test, the performance of the aircraft at low altitude including sustained level and high manoeuvrability was demonstrated with precision. The target aircraft was flown from a ground-based controller in a pre-designated low altitude flight path, which was monitored by various tracking sensors deployed by ITR, including radar and electro-optical targeting system.
The DRDO said that the vehicle was launched using twin under-slung boosters which provide the initial acceleration. It is powered by a small gas turbine engine to sustain a long endurance flight at high subsonic speed. The target aircraft is equipped with Micro-Electromechanical Systems-based Inertial Navigation System for navigation along with the flight control computer for guidance and control. The system has an indigenous radio altimeter for very low altitude flight and data link for encrypted communication between the ground control station and target aircraft.
A DRDO scientist said that Abhyas system is equipped with radar cross-section (RCS) and infrared signatures which can be used to simulate a variety of aircraft for the practice of anti-aircraft warfare and also for the testing designed to target aerial targets.
After the test, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and DRDO Chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy congratulated the various stakeholders in the project.
