Soon after the DRDO denied that the Tapas drone program was being put on hold, defense sources said that both the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force are interested in what the “Made in India” drone system can do.
The Indian Air Force has officially told the DRDO that it wants to learn more about the capabilities of the country’s own drone technology.
Also at the same time, they said, the Indian Navy is interested in using these drones for spying and other tasks, especially in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Indian Navy is expected to get two Tapas drones from the DRDO to test and see how well they work. They said that depending on how these tests go, the Navy might think about ordering 10 to 12 of these drones for actual use.
India is still committed to making a fully indigenous medium-altitude and long-endurance drone, even though the Tapas drone was moved from the mission mode group of projects.
The Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) lab is hard at work improving the drone’s designs and making it stronger so that it can better meet the service’s needs for endurance and altitude. This drone has already been tested and passed. During tests, it reached an altitude of 28,000 feet and flew for more than 18 hours.
Officials from the DRDO stressed that work is still being done at the ADE laboratory to improve the drone’s abilities so that they better meet the operating needs that were not fully met in the recent tests.
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