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.
TAPAS-BH-201 and Tapas Lite (Not an official name) will be procured by Indian Tri-service in large numbers. ADE and HAL are working on two separate HALE Class UAVs as well, one being a turboprop engine variant and the other being a jet engine variant.
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