DRDO UAV Nishant undergoes successful pre-induction flight tests
20 Jun 2008
Nishant, an umanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the DRDO for the Indian Army was successfully flight tested near Kolar, in Karnataka, today, according to a government statement.
The UAV is developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bangalore jointly with Defence Electronics Application Laboratory, Dehradun, Research and Development (Engineers), Pune and Aerial Delivery Research & Development Establishment, Agra.
Nishant is one of the few UAVs in the world in its weight class capable of being launched in the catapult mode and recovered by deploying a parachute. This eliminates the need for a runway, as in the case of conventional take off and landing with wheels.
Nishant has completed the development phase and user trials and the present flight tests are
pre-confirmatory trials before induction into service.
The flight test was witnessed by user representatives, in the presence of senior scientists of the DRDO.
