DRDO conducts successful flight test of ABHYAS in Odisha

New Delhi [India], September 22 (ANI): The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Tuesday successfully conducted a flight test of ABHYAS - High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha.

ABHYAS is designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), DRDO, according to a release by the Ministry of Defence.

During the trials, two demonstrator vehicles were successfully test flown. The vehicle can be used as a target for the evaluation of various missile systems.

The air vehicle is launched using a twin underslung booster. It is powered by a small gas turbine engine and has a MEMS-based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control, the ministry said.

"The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight. The check out of air vehicle is done using laptop-based Ground Control Station (GCS)," it said.

"During the test campaign, the user requirement of 5 km flying altitude, vehicle speed of 0.5 mach, the endurance of 30 minutes and 2g turn capability of the test vehicle were successfully achieved," read the release. (ANI)