New Delhi, May 3 (UNI) Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Saturday successfully carried out maiden flight-trials of Stratospheric Airship Platform from Sheopur trial site in Madhya Pradesh.
Developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, Agra, the airship was launched carrying an instrumental payload to an altitude of around 17 km, a Defence Ministry statement said.
Data from onboard sensors was received and would be utilised for the development of high-quality fidelity simulation models for future high-altitude airship flights. Envelop pressure control and emergency deflation systems were deployed in flight for their performance evaluation.
Trial team recovered the system for further investigation. The total duration of the flight was about 62 minutes.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO for the successful maiden flight-trial of the system.
He said that this system will uniquely enhance India’s earth observation and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, making the country one of the few countries in the world having such indigenous capabilities.
Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Samir V Kamat congratulated the DRDO team involved in the design, development and trial of the system.
He said the prototype flight is a milestone towards the realisation of lighter-than-air high-altitude platform systems that can remain airborne for very long endurance at stratospheric heights.
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