In a significant boost to indigenization, India on Friday successfully carried out the maiden flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO).

At present, the armed forces are using Israeli made Heron UAVs for various purposes including surveillance.  The successful test of the Indian made UAV will allow India to hasten up the pace of modernization.

Moreover, the test may enable the DRDO to develop the armed version of the UAV capable of launching missiles and precision guided ammunition thereby adding lethality to the armed forces.

Giving details of the test, officials said here the maiden flight of the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator was carried out successfully by the DRDO from the Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga, Karnataka.

Operating in a fully autonomous mode, the aircraft exhibited a perfect flight, including take-off, way point navigation and a smooth touchdown. This flight marks a major milestone in terms of proving critical technologies towards the development of future unmanned aircraft and is a significant step towards self-reliance in such strategic defence technologies.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) is designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, a premier research laboratory of the DRDO. It is powered by a small turbofan engine. The airframe, undercarriage and entire flight control and avionics systems used for the aircraft were developed indigenously.

Explaining the significance of the development, sources said the test is a major milestone in their efforts towards developing an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) or a combat drone which is of flying wing type.