On January 10, 2021, the Retractable Landing Gear (RLG) Systems Indigenously developed by Combat Vehicles Research and Development of Establishment (CVRDE) (An DRDO Lab) for TAPAS (Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon-201 or Tapas BH-201 also known as Rustom-II) & SWiFT (Stealth Wing Flying Testbed) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) was handed over to Dr. S. Venugopal, Director of Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, Karnataka. The systems were handed over by V. Balamurugan, Director of CVRDE, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
i.Dr Kalanidhi Veeraswamy, Member of Parliament Rajya Sabha, Parliamentary Standing Committee Member for Defence; Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Chairman of DRDO & PK Mehta, Director General of Armament & Combat Engineering Systems (ACE).
ii.During the event, 18 types of filters for P-75 Submarines were also handed over; these filters have also been developed by CVRDE.
RLG for Tapas UAV:
i.The RLG system for Tapas UAV is 3 Tonnes.
ii.The testing of RLG was carried out by CEMILAC (Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification) in collaboration with Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) for certification.
iii.It is now being manufactured in an Industry at Coimbatore.
RLG for SWiFT UAV:
i.The RLG system for SWiFT UAV is 1 Ton.
ii.It is now being manufactured with inspection and certification of CEMILAC & DGAQA.
Indigenous Fuel Filters:
i.CVRDE has also developed 18 types of hydraulic, lubrication, seawater and fuel filters for P-75 Submarines.
ii.They are being manufactured in Hyderabad and Chennai.
iii.The project is funded by DRDO and Indian Navy and the technology is set to be transferred successfully to the industry.
iv.2 Sets of the filters qualified by DQA (N) were handed over to Indian Navy.
TAPAS-BH-201:
i.It is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV being developed DRDO’s ADE in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) & Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
ii.TAPAS is expected to replace the Israel Heron UAVs being used by Indian Air Force (IAF) & Navy.
iii.It is capable of performing reconnaissance, surveillance, high-resolutions intelligence.
SWiFT:
i.It is a technology demonstrator for autonomous stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) being developed by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) & IIT, Kanpur.
ii.It is a Testbed which will be utilized to develop technologies required for DRDO Ghatak UCAV program (also known as Autonomous Unmanned Research Aircraft (AURA)).
iii.A prototype of SWIFT is expected to be flight-tested by 2021 & full scale Ghatak prototype will conduct maiden flight in 2024-25.
DRDO develops products to help Indian Troops:
DRDO has developed multiple products like Him-Tapak Space heating device (Bukhari), Solar snow melters, Alocal Cream & Flexible Water Bottle to help the Indian Troops deployed in Eastern Ladakh against China.
i.All new habitats of Army & Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) where the temperature is low. The products have been developed by DRDO’s Defence Institute for Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS).
ii.The Him Tapak device will ensure that there are no deaths of jawans due to backblast & carbon monoxide poisoning. The Army has placed an order worth INR 420 Crores to manufacture such devices.
iii.Alocal Cream will help in the prevention of Frostbite, Chilblains & other cold injuries to soldiers deployed in extremely cold areas.
iv.Water stored in Flexible Water Bottle won’t freeze and can withstand temperature from minus 50 to 100 degree.
v.The Solar Snow Melter is capable of providing 5-7 Litres of Drinking Water Every hour by melting snow. The water is stored up to minus 40-degree centigrade in a five-litre water tank attached with the device.
Recent Related News:
i.On October 1, 2020, the Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defence signed a contract with private company EEL for supply of 10,00,000 Multimode Hand Grenades to the Indian Army at an approximate cost of Rs. 409 Crores.
ii.On December 18, 2020, Union Minister for Defence, Rajnath Singh handed over 3 New Indigenous Systems – BOSS, IMSAS & ASTRA MK-I Missile developed by DRDO.
About Combat Vehicles Research and Development of Establishment (CVRDE):
Director – V. Balamurugan
Location – Chennai, Tamil Nadu
