India conducted a flight test of an "Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator", a major step towards building an attack stealth UAV, named 'Ghatak', in Karnataka on Friday.
“The successful flying demonstration of this UAV is a testimony to the maturity in technology levels in India. With this flight in the final configuration, India has joined the elite club of countries to have mastered the controls for the flying-wing tech,” the Indian Defense Ministry said.
Designed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the success of the new flying-wing UAV will lead to a major further developments in the years ahead, sources told Indian media.
“The critical technologies involved have been proven in the improved final configuration now. The new project, after the government sanctions it, will involve scaling up the size and the dimensions of the UAV with a new aero-engine,” a source said.
The aircraft prototype, with a complex arrowhead wing platform, is designed and manufactured with “light-weight carbon prepreg composite material” developed indigenously.