The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) Director announced that SARAS Mark II multi-role transport aircraft being developed by them will be supplied to the Indian Air Force (IAF) for troop transfer in 4 years. The IAF has placed an order for 15 aircraft initially.
About:
Saras is the first Indian multi-purpose civilian aircraft.
Designed by: National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL).
Timeline:
The project kicked off in 1991 and the first prototype was introduced in 2004.
After years of development, the second SARAS prototype crashed outside Bengaluru in 2009 which led to the scrapping of its development program.
In February 2017, the project was revived.
The upgraded 14-seater SARAS PT1N completed its test flight earlier in January, 2018.
The aircraft will soon be certified for both civil and military use. The plane is capable of executing both day and night missions.
Features of the revised version:
It falls in the light transport aircraft category.
It is capable of executing both day and night missions.
It can be used for transporting civilians, freight, and in remote sensing exercises.
It can take off and land from semi-prepared airfields and even on grass runways.
The aircraft has been designed to travel at 425 km/h and it has a maximum continuous flight time of around five hours.
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