DRDO test flies Rustom TD unmanned aircraft

[shrivatsa]

yup it is with 15 hours endurance and 75 kg payload

 

[Safriz]

The UAV seems to be a copy of USA's Predator...The design looks impressive,with an unusually large tail...
Lets see how good will be the finished product,as its a prototype at the moment.

The photos of the shot down indian UAV shows Israeli Logo..But that doesn't mean all of the UAV was made in Israel..It clearly says "Israel electronics" or something similar..That means avionics were from Israel..

Since bot India and Pakistan regularly face natural disaters..instead of creating military UAVs..May the two nations develop Drones for disaster monitoring and management..That will be more useful aspect of these machines.

 

[Dong_Feng]

is this UCAV

 

[ganimi kawa]

The UAV seems to be a copy of USA's Predator...The design looks impressive,with an unusually large tail...
Lets see how good will be the finished product,as its a prototype at the moment.

That is a baseless statement. Will you care to elaborate what similarities between Rustom-h and predator prompted you to say that it is a "copy"?

Note that I've not even included Rustom-TD in the discussion as you have mentioned a tail and well it is apparently a tail less design! Though the canards do serve the function of the tail in this design.


To refresh you memory here is a pic of predator.... I've highlighted the tail so you would notice!

 

[gogbot]

is this UCAV

No , this RUSTOM TD only has a payload of 75kg, too small to carry any munitions.

But this aircraft is just the stepping off point for the Rustom H which a much larger aircraft , with possible combat potential.

This UAV also contributes to Project AURA which is an attempt to develop an low observable UCAV.

 

[Safriz]

That is a baseless statement. Will you care to elaborate what similarities between Rustom-h and predator prompted you to say that it is a "copy"?

Note that I've not even included Rustom-TD in the discussion as you have mentioned a tail and well it is apparently a tail less design! Though the canards do serve the function of the tail in this design.


To refresh you memory here is a pic of predator.... I've highlighted the tail so you would notice!

Ok point to be noted...Then again India has a history of tangling itself in too much radical attempt when it comes to defence tech..Apparently Indian scientists always go hyper and too ambitious for a project to be finished in good time...and by the time the project is completed,the technology is already old.
Lets hoe same doesn't happen with UAV program.

 

[kingdurgaking]

Can any one throw some light... whether Rustom will carry any weapon? As UAV it will be mainly used for survillance right?

 

[OmPrakash]

I think its role and specs are not yet publicly out in the open.

 

[sudhir007]

can anybody tellme when it will be induct and how many test flight it will needed to get FOC. and the news say it has capacity of carry weight around 75kg. what is that is it carry light weapon like bomb or something else. ????

 

[TheInvisible]

Its looks like a RC toy plane

Doesn't matter ... It can drop real bombs too...

 

[Kinetic]

Can any one throw some light... whether Rustom will carry any weapon? As UAV it will be mainly used for survillance right?

Most probably yes. We can see two hardpoints under the wings. But it is most probably used for Predator type operations, looks also a lot like Predator.

We have a dedicated next generation UCAV programme called AURA.

 

[shrivatsa]

t tail is listed as one of the features of Rustom what advantages does it lend

 

[ganimi kawa]

t tail is listed as one of the features of Rustom what advantages does it lend

I'll try to explaine what a " T tail " is and then add pros and cons by editing the post. So, here we go

Please note following structures in the diagram
1.Vertical stabilizer

2.Horizontal stabilizer

3.Elevator

Now, the respective position and arrangement of the two stabilizers mentioned above at the tail end of an aircraft gives rise to what is known as aircraft tail stabilizer configuration. 'T tail' is one such confiuration.

T tail

As per wiki,the T-tail is an aircraft tail stabilizer configuration in which the horizontal surfaces (Horizontal stabilizer and elevators) are mounted to the top of the vertical stabilizer..

This looks like the letter "T" from the front, hence the name. Look at this pic...

Other common configurations are


fuselage mounted

Cruciform

V tail

Check out the predator pic that I have posted in this thread earlier.

I'll add pros and cons of a T tail later.

 

[ganimi kawa]

Advantages of a T tail.

1. See the first plane in the diagram...

You can see that the horizontal stabilizer is situated well above the wings, therefore the surfaces are kept well out of the airflow behind the wing, giving smoother flow, more predictable design characteristics, and better pitch control.( look at the lines indicating air flow)


2. T-tail configuration also allows high performance aerodynamics .

3.The horizontal stabilizer is kept farther away from the ground, which helps reduce damage to it by objects on the ground when taking off or landing.

 

[Dash]

So will the Rustom go into production or its a tech validator for Rustom H.???