Garuda Aerospace, a company that makes drones, will launch their first solar-powered drone, Suraj, today at Aero India. Suraj is a multi-use drone for defence and homeland security.
G. Satheesh Reddy, who used to be the head of the DRDO and is now Satish Reddy’s scientific advisor, showed off the drone on Monday. The Karnataka Chief Minister, Basavraj Bommai, will officially launch it on Wednesday at Aero India in Bengaluru.
The Suraj will be ready to fly by August 2023. It will help the Indian Army, Navy, Airforce, BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, DRDO, MOD, and MHA with their strategic operations. Founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace Agnishwar Jayprakash told DH in a one-on-one.
The largest wing span of the drone is 26 feet. It has battery-powered propellers and solar panels on top that charge the batteries while it is in the air, making it last longer. It can carry 5 kilogrammes of weight and can work on its own. This drone technology also has LIDAR-based camera sensors with a 10X zoom, radar, and the ability to avoid obstacles. It will mostly work in the Beyond the Visual Line of Sight (BVLS) segment.
Jayprakash said that the cost of making the prototype is about Rs. 15–20 lakh right now, but that cost could go down as drone production grows. He said that Suraj should be taking to the skies soon this year.
Garuda Aerospace worked on this drone technology with help from people at the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
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