Details of Viral AWACS AVRO Picture
Last month Former IAF fighter pilot Sameer Joshi on Twitter posted an image of what seems to be an HS-748 Avro aircraft platform fitted with a rotodome on its fuselage. Not many were sure if the image that went viral over social media was of the old AWACS AVRO program that has been long abandoned now or was the first official confirmation of old workhorse again being pushed back into service to test the new dome that DRDO along with CABS had fabricated for the A330 AWACS Indian Program that now has been pushed back to make way for the smaller A319 based Netra Mk1 AEW&C program.
The viral AWACS AVRO Picture has been traced back to the
Guwahati Air Base where it has been caught in satellite imagery when it was
parked in the open just off the main runway. We scanned previous satellite
images of the same area and found that in 2018, AVRO was seen for the first
time in the same location but without any dome visible in the satellite images.
In 2020, Avro had gone missing from the same location but by October 2021
satellite image scans captured Avro again but this time with a dome.
In 2018 satellite image of the Avro was sported with the old
dual paint scheme of IAF that was white on top and chrome on the lower fuselage
section but the 2021 Avro seen with the dome seems to have got a new Tipnis
grey paint scheme that is now seen on all Avro aircraft fleet in IAF. But no
one can say in certainty that both Avro aircraft seen in the same location are
of the same aircraft but it does look like it was.
Now questions of what’s it is doing in such a forward and
sensitive airbase close to the Chinese border is any bodies guess and we don’t
know much about it but it certainly is not a grounded aircraft nor it is an old
aircraft that was used as a testbed for the now-cancelled AWACS AVRO program.
India issues 2 more NOTAM’s for Missile Tests
India has issued a Notice to Airmen NOTAM for a launch of an
experimental flight vehicle in the Bay of Bengal for the period for 16-17 and 22.
The designated area for first NOTAM is 739km that indicates that it will
probably will be test of cruise missile and second designated area for NOTAM is
for 1272km that probably will be for a Ballistic missiles.
For the month of December, DRDO already has tested Pinaka
Enhanced Rockets, SANT Anti-Tank Missiles, Supersonic Missile Assisted Torpedo SMART,
BrahMos-A and VL-SRSAM Missile. Experts believe that due to prolonged monsoon
season and frequent cyclones and depressions near the Chandipur test range this
year many of the missile tests that are experimental in nature and carried
highest risk factors were kept pending and now are being cleared to meet
program deadlines.
Kalyani Group demonstrates ECARS UGV to Indian Army
Indian Army and Industry experts carried out Unmanned Ground
Vehicle Experiment from 9 to 13 December 21 at the Babina Field Firing Ranges where
Kalyani Group also demonstrated its Enhanced Collaborative Autonomous Rover
System ECARS in front of the Army officials. The 4x4 Multi-Terrain vehicle is
specially designed to be capable of Multi Mission and Multi Task.
This four wheeled vehicle has many more added features One of
them is the plethora of sensors such as Positioning, Mapping, Path Planning
& Obstacle detection that makes it competent to operate under all types of
terrain.
ECARS can operate up to 24 hours continuously when working on
battery and generator or 6 hours continuously in silent mode. Kalyani Group has
developed Two versions, ECARS 4x4 and ECARS 6x6 that are designed to perform
surveillance, security, safety and rescue missions.
Rustam-2 demonstrated flight at 25,000 feet for over 10 hours
The armed forces have been looking for high quality, high
endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs And they are particularly useful
along the line of control with Pakistan or the Line of Actual control with China.
Rustam Too, the new UAV can fly at 25,000 feet for over 10 hours. In too months
they will fly at 28,000 feet and for over 18 hours. This is what the armed
forces want. This is what they will get. Drdo is taking up the issues of higher
altitude and longer range. The UAVs besides having better capabilities, will
have automatic take-off and landing facilities. Once ready, Hindustan
Aeronautics and Bharat Electronics will begin production.
DRDO develops special fire entry suit that can be worn inside
burning buildings
Burn injuries are a worry. And after the horrific helicopter
crash this month killing 13 people including General Bipin Rawat, even more so.
DRDO have just readied suits that are more fire resistant. A special Fire Entry
suit can allow someone to go inside a burning building, or for that matter, an
aircraft or helicopter. Rescue personnel in these special suits can be inside a
fire zone for 150 seconds, a lot of time when every second is of enormous
value.
A lightweight structural firefighting suit can allow rescue
personnel to enter a burning building to bring out people. The DRDO versions
have exceeded the European EN-469 standard and equalled the American 4971
standard. They are cheaper, indigenous and at 25 kilograms are lighter than
many suits.
