Abhyas air vehicle can be used as a target to evaluate the effectiveness of several missile systems. Credit: Ministry of Defence / Press Information Bureau / Government of India.

India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has flight-tested the high-speed expendable aerial target (HEAT), Abhyas.

Abhyas was tested from DRDO’s integrated test range (ITR) in Chandipur, Odisha, India, on 22 October.

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It is designed and developed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) as a HEAT system in Bengaluru, India.

The target aircraft’s performance was monitored through telemetry and other tracking sensors, including radars and an electro-optical tracking system (EOTS).

In a statement, the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated that the current flight test is executed as a part of developmental flight trials.

According to the MoD, the expression of interest (EOI) for vehicle production has already been sent to Indian industries.

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Once developed, this target aircraft will meet the needs of high-speed HEAT for the Indian Armed Forces.

MoD said: “Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and chairman, DRDO also congratulated the teams associated with successful flight test of ‘ABHYAS’ and termed it as a force-multiplier considering its accuracy and effectiveness.”

The locally developed missile target vehicle can be used as a target to evaluate the effectiveness of several missile systems.

The vehicle is equipped with a small gas turbine engine and leverages MEMS-based inertial navigation system (INS) to navigate and the Flight Control Computer for guidance and control.

Launched using a twin underslung booster, the vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight.