DRDO closes project ‘Tapas’: India has closed the biggest powerful Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) project being built for the army. This aircraft was made for spying and monitoring the enemy. Unfortunately, it did not meet the Army’s requirements, so the government has decided to discontinue the project. The project, being run by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation), was started in 2011 and had an initial expenditure of Rs 1,650 crore. A senior government official said that now this project has been officially closed. Recently, the Army has also inducted four SATCOM-enabled Heron Mark-II UAVs.
Reasons for failure of Project ‘Tapas’:
DRDO’s Tapas project was a large drone manufacturing project. Its actual function was to spy and monitor the enemy. The project was to be completed in 2016, but many problems arose and money was overrun. A major problem was that the drone became too heavy. When ready its weight reached 2850 kg. Being so heavy, it could not fly well. The second problem was that the engine used in the project was brought from abroad and there were problems with the payload being installed on the drone.
Crushed twice:
It is also called Tapas-201 and its function was to conduct long distance spying. During testing, it was flown approximately 200 times, but had accidents at least twice. The biggest problem was that this drone could not meet the requirements of the army. The essential things that the army had asked for were not in this drone.
Could fly only for 18 hours:
Sources say, ‘The Tapas drone could not meet the requirements of the army in terms of flight altitude and time. It could only fly for 18 hours at an altitude of 28,000 feet, whereas the Army required more. The military wanted pilotless airplanes that could fly well (up to 30,000 feet) and stay in the air for long periods of time (at least 24 hours). TAPAS was not able to do it, so DRDO will now try to build a new and better aircraft.
Army needs 150 new drones:
The closure of the Tapas project is generating controversy. Some people are saying that some special people have deliberately stopped this Indian effort. The military needs drones for long-range reconnaissance and precise command and control. Therefore, over the last few years they have purchased a large number of Searcher, Heron Mark-I and Mark-II drones from Israel. Now they need about 150 more new drones.