SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) drawing from its prior experience in the development of the TAPAS BH-201 medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE) program is looking at a quick turnaround for the Archer-NG program which the company claims will be nearly identical in all major sensors and components and share same subsystems.
Archer-NG MALE UAV will feature Single Engine Twin Boom (SETB) design unlike Tapas UAV but will share a frontal fuselage, engine, Ground Control System (GCS) and wings but with only SETB and engine in pusher configuration being new design elements.
ADE already has begun the fabrication process of the first three Archer-NG and the first flight of the Archer-NG is planned for June-July this year as the push for weaponized UAVs by the Indian Armed forces is getting priority clearance program is likely to complete the developmental phase in less than 3 years and enter production from 2027-28 onwards.
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