Rustom-1, DRDO’s unmanned air vehicle in the making, has shown good results in its 14th test flight, DRDO has said.
The UAV was flown at Kolar on Tuesday for 2 hours and 10 minutes. The take-off, landing and waypoint track were said to be perfect.
Rustom-1 is being developed to do observation, surveillance and communication for the military. It can identify and pinpoint targets among other things, DRDO said in a late-night statement.
Mr P.S. Krishnan, Director, Aeronautical Development Establishment, said the UAV met all the target parameters during the flight. It reached 11,500 feet (3.5 km) above ground level with a speed of 140 kph. "The total performance was satisfactory."
The Bangalore-based defence lab first flew it in November 2009. Tuesday's take-off weight was the heaviest so far. The extended range of about 50 km was tried out for the first time.
When fully developed, it can reach a height of 22,000 ft and remain flying for 12-15 hours and cover 250 km