HAL to manufacture ‘High Speed Expendable Aerial Target’ system for DRDO

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has successfully secured an order for manufacturing, assembling, integrating, testing and supplying the High Speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) system, commonly known as ‘ABHYAS’, from the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• In May 2019, ABHYAS was first successfully flight-tested & subsequent evaluation trials are being conducted by ADE- DRDO. This order would mark the beginning of the series production of ABHYAS.

Understanding ‘ABHYAS’

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested the High-Speed Expendable Aerial Target ABHYAS on 22nd October this year.
• The flight- test was launched from Odisha’s Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, off the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
• ABHYAS acts as an aerial target for the evaluation of several high-speed missile systems.
• As part of developmental flight trials, the ABHYAS flight test was conducted.
• The performance of ABHYAS was observed through telemetry along with various tracking sensors like Radars and Electro-Optical Tracking System (EOTS).
• DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru has designed and developed the aerial target system ABHYAS.
• The High-speed Expendable Aerial Target provides a realistic threat scenario for the testing and practice of several missiles & weapon systems.
• It is designed for autonomous flying with the help of an autopilot.
• ABHYAS is equipped with RCS, Visual, and IR augmentation systems that are necessary for weapon practice.
• The initial thrust to the vehicle is provided by using the twin under-slung boosters and the vehicle is powered by a gas turbine engine which enables the vehicle to maintain a long endurance flight at subsonic speed.
• For aircraft speeds that are very less than the speed of sound (767 mph), the aircraft is said to be subsonic.
• Typical speeds for subsonic aircraft are less than 250 mph.

About the contract

• The five-year contract spanning from 2023 to 2028, involves supplying critical avionics Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), flight control computers and night flying LRUs.
• The Rs 2,400 crore contract is the biggest ever order that HAL has placed with any Indian firm.
• The target aircraft (ABHYAS) is equipped with a Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control and a MEMS-based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation.
• The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight.
• The check-out of air vehicles is done using a laptop-based Ground Control Station (GCS).