Karwar: In yet another successful milestone, the DRDO and Indian Navy carried out demonstration of transferring of Command and Control capabilities of TAPAS Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), as it landed comfortably on the scheduled destination.
During the demonstration, the TAPAS UAV took off from Chitradurga’s Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) flying all the way 285 kms and landed successfully on INS Subhadra which was stationed 148 kms off Karwar Naval Base. For the whole exercise, a ground Control Station and two Ship Data Terminal were installed in INS Subhadra to man the UAV.
The DRDO took to Twitter to share that the TAPAS took off at 7.35 hours from the ATR, Chitradurga which is about 285 km from Karwar naval base. The UAV seamlessly flew around an altitude of 20,000 feet height. INS Subhadra controlled UAV operations for 40 minutes during its 3.30 hrs flight duration. It landed successfully on INS Subhadra. After the trial, TAPAS landed back to the ATR.
This test is called C2 – command and control capabilities – essential for the safe and effective operations of a drone. Designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Agency, TAPAS, is equipped with Electro Optics where sensors can capture images and videos both in day and night, even from long distances and can fly non-stop for 24-30 hours.