On July 1, 2022, the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator flew for the first time from the Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga, Karnataka. In automatic mode, the aircraft performed a flawless flight, including takeoff, waypoint navigation, and landing. It’s a huge step towards developing unmanned aircraft and a huge step towards self-reliance in defence technologies of the future.
Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, a premier DRDO research lab, designed and developed the unmanned aerial vehicle. It is powered by a small turbofan engine. Airframe, undercarriage, flight control, and avionics were developed locally.
Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO on their major achievement and said it would pave the way for “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” in terms of critical military systems.
Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) was successfully flight-tested
Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO, appreciated the teams involved in design, development and testing the system.
In April 2022, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) booster at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on April 08, 2022. The test successfully demonstrated the reliable functioning of all critical components involved in the complex missile system and met all the mission objectives.