Rustom-2, India’s medium-altitude long-endurance drone being developed by the DRDO, is targeted to achieve a huge milestone in April when it will take off from its test range in Karnataka’s Chitradurga to fly for more than 18 hours at a height of over 27,000 feet.
Rustom-2, also known as Tapas-BH (Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon 201), successfully completed the last flight test in October 2020 when it successfully flew for eight hours at an altitude of 16,000 feet.
The hard push to Rustom-2 is seen in the context of the continuing efforts to indigenously produce cutting-edge military equipment. In 2020, the government unveiled plans to ban the import of 101 types of weapons and ammunition over the next five years ranging from artillery guns to conventional submarines and missiles.
