TAPAS UAV:
The Prime Minister of India has shared aerial coverage of Ground and Air displays captured from an indigenously developed Medium Altitude Long Endurance TAPAS UAV during rehearsal from a height of 12000 feet.
- TAPAS UAV is known as Tapas-BH (Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon 201), formerly referred to as Rustom-II.
- The UAV is named after Rustom Damania, a former professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
- It is designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru with production partners being Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Limited.
- It is being developed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles and is capable of carrying different combinations of advanced payloads and capable of auto-landing among others.
- It is being designed to acquire real-time, high-quality pictures and signal intelligence from fields of concern at medium to long ranges.
- Technologically it matches contemporary UAVs available and is also cheaper than the imported ones.
