SDAL and CSIR-NAL Partnership: Solar Defence & Aerospace Ltd (SDAL) has joined hands with CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) to build a new 150 kg class Loitering Munition UAV. Both sides signed the agreement on Sunday. The event took place at the CSIR-NAL campus in Bengaluru and it marked an important step in India’s push to build its own defence technology.
Under this plan, SDAL and CSIR-NAL will work together on the full design and development of the new LM-UAV. The aircraft will run on a Wankel engine made by NAL. This engine already passed CEMILAC certification, which means it is ready for aircraft fitting and for real flight trials. The teams expect the UAV to use a very high amount of Indian-made parts.
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SDAL and CSIR-NAL Partnership Project
The Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh, welcomed the announcement. He praised CSIR for taking a new path by bringing an industry partner into the project right when it starts. He said CSIR included SDAL from the very beginning through all stages like design, development, and testing.
The new LM-UAV will fly far and stay in the sky for long hours. It can cover about 900 km in one mission and stay up for 6 to 9 hours, reported Business standard. The aircraft can climb to 5 km and keep steady performance. The makers also say the UAV will stay safe and accurate during missions.
The UAV will have a very small Radar Cross Section, which means radars will find it hard to see. It can also work in places where GPS may not work well. This helps the aircraft finish missions even if the area is full of electronic trouble. The LM-UAV will carry an AI-enabled EO-IR payload. This payload helps with Detection, Recognition and Identification and gives real-time information to the user.
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CSIR selected SDAL through its Combined Technical cum Commercial Bidding System, known as CTCCBS. SDAL won the spot even though four other companies, including foreign firms and Defence Public Sector Undertakings, took part.
