TAPAS UAV

Aug. 21, 2023

Recently, a Tapas unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) crashed in agriculture fields near a village in Karnataka's Chitradurga.

About TAPAS UAV:

The Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon-201 or Tapas BH-201 is a long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle.
It was previously used to be referred as Rustom-II.
Features
- Formerly known as the Rustom-2, the drone has a 20.6-meter wingspan and a maximum speed of 225 kmph.
- It can cover a range of 250+ km using the C Band frequency data link developed by Defence Electronics Application Laboratory (DEAL) at DRDO.
- It can also cover 1000+ km via SATCOM using the Kᵤ Band frequency and GAGAN system.
- The medium-altitude, long-endurance drone has an impressive flight endurance of several hours and successfully completed its maiden flight in November 2016.
- Its compact, lightweight design makes it easily transportable and deployable to remote locations.
- Its real-time data collection and transmission provide valuable intelligence for decision-making.
- It has a range of over 18 hours and altitude capabilities of up to 28,000 feet.
- It has already completed more than 180 flights and will be live-streaming aerial and static displays at Aero India 2023.
It is being developed in India by Aeronautical Development Establishment.