DRDO Stratospheric Airship: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) carried out the first-ever test flight of a stratospheric airship. This special flight happened at the Sheopur trial site in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday. The Ministry of Defence shared the news, saying this trial was a major success for India’s research in high-altitude air systems.
According to The Hindu, the airship went up to almost 17 kilometers high in the sky, carrying an instrumental payload. It was developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment in Agra, which is a part of DRDO. This airship is known as a “lighter-than-air” system, which means it can float and stay high up using gases that are lighter than air. This makes it useful for long-time observation and surveillance from above.
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Advanced Systems Tested During Flight
The total flight time of the airship was about 62 minutes. During the flight, the team tested several important systems. The envelope pressure control system and emergency deflation system were both deployed while the airship was in the air to see how they worked. These systems are very important for safety and for controlling the airship when it is flying at such high altitudes. After the flight, the team recovered the airship so they could study it further and learn more from this test.
Data from the flight was collected through sensors placed on the airship. This data will now be used to create high-quality simulation models. These models will help with better planning and designing of future flights with high-altitude airships.
DRDO posted on X and said, “DRDO successfully conducts maiden flight trial of Stratospheric Airship with instrumental payload to an altitude of around 17 kms. This lighter than air system will enhance India’s earth observation and Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance capabilities, making the country one of the few countries in the world having such indigenous capabilities.”
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Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised the work of DRDO and congratulated them on this big achievement.
“Data from onboard sensors was received and would be utilised for development of high-quality fidelity simulation models for future high-altitude airship flights,” the Ministry said in a statement.
“Envelop pressure control and emergency deflation systems were deployed in flight for their performance evaluation. Trial team recovered the system for further investigation. The total duration of the flight was about 62 minutes,” it said.
Dr. Samir V Kamat, the Secretary of Defence R&D and also the Chairman of DRDO, also gave his congratulations to the whole team involved in making and testing the airship. He called this flight a major step towards building airship systems that can stay up in the stratosphere for very long times. He said the prototype flight was a milestone and that it brought the country closer to creating high-altitude platforms with long endurance.
