Rustom-2: DRDO’s UAV crashes in Karnataka’s Chitradurga

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) called ‘Rustom-2’ belonging to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) crashed during a trial in an agriculture field in Chitradurga district of Karnataka. No casualties were reported from the crash. According to state government officials, the testing of ‘Rustom-2 UAV was in progress when the incident occurred.

About DRDO Rustom

It is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV. It is being developed by DRDO for Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.

Rustom is derived from National Aerospace Laboratory’s (NAL) LCRA (Light Canard Research Aircraft) developed by a team under leadership of late Prof Rustom Damania in 1980s.

DRDO Rustom-2 UAV

It has been designed and developed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) with its production partners being aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL).

It is being developed on lines of predator drones of United States (US) to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles for the 3 Indian armed forces with an endurance of 24 hours.

It is capable of carrying various combinations of payloads like synthetic aperture radar (SAR), electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems and situational awareness payloads (SAP).

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2019