SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

DRDO finally confirmed some of the features of Air-Launched RudraM-II and RudraM-III that are under development to be equipped on some of the fighter jet types that are in the Indian Air Force inventory. DRDO officials told idrw.org that most of the design and development work on this missile have been completed and developmental trials from the two modified Su-30MKI will commence soon.

RudraM-II has been designed to be operational with Su-30MKI and Mirage-2000 and has a range of 300km when the missile is launched from 15km altitude at Mach 0.8. RudraM-II has a solid rocket motor for its propulsion and has INS+SATNAV for navigation. RudraM-II has an IIR seeker and can carry a 155kg or 200kg warhead that can be used to take out radar installations, bunkers, airstrips, and air hangers. RudraM-II has a peak speed of 5.5 Mach and a Terminal stage speed of 0.9 Mach.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

TATA-DRDO developed WhAP 8 x 8 Amphibious Wheeled Armoured Vehicle that was inducted into the Indian Army earlier this year in limited numbers will be facing serious competition from two more Indian Private sector companies that are planning to develop their 8 x 8 Amphibious Wheeled Armoured Vehicle in near future.

Larsen & Toubro showcased a scaled model of the Showcase 8×8 Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicle at DefExpo 2022 that is based on a new design but will use equipment and systems developed by the DRDO that has transferred some of the ToT to the Private sector company.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

DRDO has commenced work on the development of an Armed variant of the Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon-201. idrw.org was informed by DRDO officials that the unarmed variant of Tapas has demonstrated benchmark performance among its contemporaries and most of the developmental trials have been completed pending a few flight altitude trials beyond 30,000 feet and the program will be concluded by August 2023.

TAPAS-BH-201 will be 40% cheaper than any MALE Class UAVs that are available in Export Market and Armed Tapas was a logical step forward in its next development phase. ADE and HAL are also working on a low-cost single-engine MALE UAV that we covered in our previous report that will borrow most of the technology from the Tapas program and will also include an armed variant.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Dr. V Madhusudana Rao, Project Director for the LCA AF-MK2 has confirmed that due to delays in the official grant to the program, a rollout that was supposed to have happened by December 2022 will now be pushed to December 2023, and the first flight in 2024. LCA AF-MK2 due to delays will have 82% indigenous content when rolled out instead of the 75% that was planned earlier.

idrw.org has been told that MoD and IAF asked for more indigenous content to avoid further disturbance in the supply chain as a road map for production-ready LCA AF-MK2 will have indigenous content nearing 90%.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

State-owned PSU ADE and HAL have showcased a Medium altitude long-endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle at DefExpo 2022. MALE Class UAV is presently undergoing design validation tests and soon will enter the fabrication stage. idrw.org has been told that this MALE UAV will be designed both with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance, and communications relay and an Unmanned Combat Drone variant with six hardpoints.

Both variants of the MALE UAV will be powered by a 220 HP Diesel Engine that is been designed by the Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) in collaboration with a Private sector company. MALE UAV uses a single turboprop engine in a pusher configuration.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

BrahMos Aerospace has commenced work on the development of a smaller, lighter BrahMos NG that will commence developmental trials from 2024 onwards and will have a 3.5 Mach speed.

Air-Launched BrahMos NG will be the first to be developed and idrw.org has been told at DefExpo 2022 that BrahMos NG will be compatible with all fighter jets in IAF inventory and will have capabilities to take out targets at land and sea with pinpoint accuracy.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Defense PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has showcased the IMRH model in Weapons System Integrated Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) that can be seen with integrated sensors, weapons, and an electronic warfare suite.

A scaled model on display can be seen with forward-looking infrared (FLIR), day-and-night optical cameras, Onboard self-defense systems include radar and missile detectors, IR jammers, chaff, and flare dispensers. IMRH WSI can be seen with One 70 mm rocket Pod and Two ATGAM on both sides.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace at the DefExpo 2022 showcased the Vajra Stealth drone that will be powered by HAL-developed PTAE-7, a 3.43 kN single spool turbojet engine. Lockheed Martin Canada CDL Systems will be providing advanced Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) software solutions for the program.

idrw.org has been told that the Vajra will have an endurance of 5-6 hours depending on speed and can carry small drone-launched ammunition from its internal weapons bay. Garuda Aerospace claims that all the tech for the program will be developed in-house and a working prototype will be fabricated in near future.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India’s 5th Gen Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) will be in top gears soon as Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) plans to complete Critical Design Review (CDR) by end of December this year. idrw.org has been told at DefExpo 2022 that the rollout of the prototype has been planned in mid of 2025 and the first flight by end of 2026 or in 2027.

ADA is seeking 15000 crores for the program and once CDR is completed ball will be in motion for clearance of the grant for the program sometime in early 2023. ADA and its manufacturing partner HAL have started sourcing and manufacturing some of the equipment and parts for the program but until the official grant comes fabrication of the aircraft won’t commence.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Paras Aerospace has showcased its Griffon UCAV at “DEFEXPO INDIA 2022”. the company claimed to idrw.org that the program is still in the design stage and it has offered it to Indian tri-service. Griffon UCAV has an all-up weight of 5 tons and will be powered by two Turboprop engine that can take a payload of 1.2-tons and has a range of 7500km.

Griffon UCAV has a cruise speed of 280km and a top speed of 400km. Paras Aerospace officials told idrw.org that it has an endurance of 25 hours and an operational altitude of 10,700m.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) co-developed Zorawar Light Tank Scaled Model was showcased at the DefExpo 2022. Zorawar Light Tank rollout has been planned for mid-2023 and work on the program is progressing at good speed claimed L&T officials to idrw.org.

Zorawar is a 25-ton Light tank that has been designed specifically for operations in high altitudes and will be powered by a High Altitude Operable Power pack (Engine + Transmission) of 1,000hp. Indian Army is looking to procure around 350 units to counter Chinese ZTQ 105/Type 15 lightweight tank deployment in the entire Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) including in Eastern Ladakh and opposite Sikkim.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Indian Navy has revealed plans to develop an Indigenous Integrated Mast that will be installed on future destroyers of the Indian Navy. A horn-shaped structure in which numerous antennas for tactical data link, TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation System), and communications are integrated within the design of the mast itself to Reduce signature, Reduce ship-building time, Better operational performance, and Enormous savings in below-deck space.

The program will be executed in two phases, In Phase-I, the integration of R-ESM, COMMIT, V/UHF communication, and Datalink antennae will be integrated into a single mast without Radome. In Phase II, a radome will be integrated that can withstand marine environments and can also operate without hindering various frequency bands of the antennas that are integrated into it.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

DRDO’s LRDE at “DEFEXPO INDIA 2022” showcased UTTAM AESA(Active Electronically Scanned Array) Fire Control Radar (FCR) but upon closer observation, it was sported with 912 TR modules which are more than 780 TR modules usually seen in earlier Uttam models that were displayed.

UTTAM Mk2 program will cater to the Tejas Mk2 program and also of Mig-29K program of the Indian Navy. DRDO also has plans to develop Uttam with a rotating repositioner that allows the pilot to take a beyond-visual-range missile shot and then turn 90 degrees while still giving mid-course updates to the missile fired.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

DRDO-TATA/Kalyani developed a 155mm/52cal caliber gun system mounted on Tatra T815 27ET96 28 300 8×8 terrain vehicle that has been displayed at the DefExpo 2022. Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) was involved in the design and development of an armored crew protection cabin for the MGS that was later integrated with the ATAGS 155mm/52cal caliber gun at the Kalyani facility.

Indian Ary needs 814 mounted gun systems (MGS), and it was accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AON) by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in September 2011, but since then little progress has been made. RFI states that the 155 mm/ 52 Calibre Mounted Gun System will be employed in plains, mountains, high altitude areas, semi-desert, and desert terrain along the Northern and Western Borders of the country for the execution of Artillery tasks.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India’s Long range Air to Surface Hybrid RudraM-III model was displayed at the DefExpo 2022 for the first time. RudraM-III is a 1.6ton Air to Surface missile system that has a range of 550km and a warhead of over 200kg. Integration of RudraM-III Missile on Su-30 MKI aircraft (NonUMC) is already in progress and nearly 20 units are being fabricated to be used for the developmental trial of the new missile system.

RudraM-III program was sanctioned in 2017 with developmental trials to begin in 2022 for 485 crores. DRDO is also working on RudraM-II and RudraM-IIA which are also Air to Surface missiles with a range of up to 250-350km.