Recently, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted the successful fight test of the indigenously designed High-Speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT)—Abhyas. The flight-test was done from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur, off the coast of Bay of Bengal, Odisha. This flight test came hours after the DRDO conducted the second test flight of India-made surface-to-surface missile ‘Pralay’ from Chandipur. Abhyas would meet the requirement of aerial targets of the Indian armed forces.
About Abhyas
Abhyas has been designed and developed by the DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru along with other DRDO laboratories. Abhyas is 2,385 mm long and has a diameter of 180 mm. It weighs 75 kilograms and is expected to supplement the pilotless target aircrafts—Lakshya-1 and Lakshya-2 which have already been inducted to the Indian armed forces. The unmanned aerial target system can target objects flying in the lower orbit.
Some Salient Features of Abhyas
- Abhyas could be launched from a single mobile launcher using two 68-millimetre boosters. These boosters would provide the initial acceleration to the vehicle, and would be separated after the initial burnout.
- A small gas turbine powers the aerial vehicle during the cruise phase. The gas turbine engine would sustain a long-endurance flight at subsonic speed.
- It has a speed of Mach 0.5, and could attain an altitude of more than 5 kilometres.
- Abhyas could be controlled from a ground-based controller and an indigenously developed micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS)-based inertial navigation system along with the flight control computer (FCC). The FCC would help to follow the pre-designated path in a fully autonomous mode.
- The performance of the target aircraft was monitored through telemetry and various sensors, including radars and electro optical tracking system (EOTS).
- Abhyas’s radar cross-section (RCS) and its visual and infrared (IR) signatures can be used to simulate a variety of aircraft for air-defence weapon particles.
Performance of Abhyas
During its test flight, Abhyas demonstrated high subsonic speed trajectory at a very low altitude with high endurance. Two boosters provided the required initial acceleration during the launch while a small turbo jet engine sustained the high subsonic speed with long endurance. The indigenous data link, designed by the ADE’s Bengaluru-based industry partner, was also successfully flown and tested during the flight.
According to the DRDO, the performance system, during the entire flight duration, was confirmed from the data captured by the various range instruments that were deployed along the coast. This is for the first time that flight tests of a ballistic missile, developed by the DRDO, have been successfully conducted. Abhyas could be used to assess the effectiveness of several missile systems.
© Spectrum Books Pvt Ltd.