The working title of the drone aircraft project was the Indian Unmanned Strike Aircraft Programme (IUSAP), while the scale model of RPSA was known as Stealth Wing Flying Testbed (SWiFT).[3] In September 2020, SWiFT was revealed in a lecture video at IIT Kanpur. On 1 July 2022, the prototype made its first successful flight at the Chitradurga Aeronautical Test Range in Karnataka, operating in full autonomous mode with perfect flight, including take-off, waypoint navigation, and a smooth touchdown.[4] The RPSA/Ghatak is designed as a tailless flying-wing drone for Mach 0.8 subsonic speed, low-observable radar and precision strike. The RPSA’s internal weapons bay, built to carry around 1.5 tonnes of precision-guided munitions, is intended to preserve the low radar signature.[5]

Propulsion has become the programme’s most closely watched variable. The platform is to be powered by a ‘dry’, non-afterburning derivative of the indigenous Kaveri engine, generating about 49-51kN and projected to give the drone a cruise speed of around Mach 0.8 and a service ceiling near 13,000 metres.[6] The Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) is expected to complete certification of the dry Kaveri engine, or Kaveri Derivative Engine (KDE), by 2026. Recent reports, though, note that this timeline could extend to 2027. GTRE will have to achieve all benchmark testing, including endurance runs, high-altitude trials and integration validation. For a programme whose airframe work has consistently outpaced its propulsion work, meeting that deadline will matter as much as any single milestone announced so far.

Beyond a single-role strike platform, DRDO envisages the aircraft eventually operating in manned–unmanned teams (MUM-T) with the........

© IDSA