HAL RUAV-200 (Rotary Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is an unmanned

rotorcraft A rotary-wing aircraft, rotorwing aircraft or rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotor wing, rotary wings that spin around a vertical mast to generate lift (force), lift. Part 1 (Definitions and Abbreviations) of Subchapter A of Chapt ...

project being developed by

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian public sector aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Bengaluru. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manufacturers in the world. H ...

for the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

and the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

Development

IAI-HAL NRUAV

IAI-HAL NRUAV (Naval Rotary Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) was an unmanned

project being co-developed by Malat Solutions, a unit of IAI of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and HAL of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

for the

. The programme served as a precursor to the current RUAV-200 programme. The project consisted of a Malat-made Helicopter Modification Suite (HeMoS) fitted on HAL's ''Chetan'', an upgraded Chetak with Turbomeca TM 333 2M2 engines. The helicopter was planned to be used for unmanned operations and advanced

intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ISTAR stands for Military intelligence, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, #ISTAR, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employ ...

(ISR) missions from warship decks. IAI-HAL NRUAV will feature Autonomous

Vertical Take-off and Landing A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing ...

(AVTOL) to operate from helicopter deck-equipped warships and from unprepared landing sites. It is intended to be employed as an elevated mast, which will extend the vessel's coverage over a much larger area, providing early warning and detection of aircraft, cruise missiles, surface vessels and even subsurface activities. It is planned to have an endurance of 6 hours and up to a distance of 120 km from the launching vessel. The system is being designed to carry a variety of ISR payloads including SAR, EO, and

SIGINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

. The project was initiated in late 2008, to be completed in 36-48 months with a budget of . The project was being funded by the Indian Ministry of defense In October 2010, it was reported that the programme is plagued by the lack of a correct landing and take-off system for moving platforms such as the decks of warships and had run into serious delays. It was reported in February 2017, that the programme contract with IAI had been cancelled and was being further developed in collaboration with Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE).

Specifications

HAL RUAV-200

By February 2019, a full-scale prototype of RUAV-200 was developed and unveiled at the Aero India 2019. The programme was awaiting clearance for a preliminary design review. HAL was being assisted by IIT Kanpur and Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of

DRDO The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, headqu ...

. The intended user was extended to the

as well as the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. The drone, weighing , has been equipped with a two rotor blade design and a

petrol Gasoline (North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formul ...

aero-engine. As reported, the UAV features

FADEC A full authority digital engine (or electronics) control (FADEC) is a system consisting of a digital computer, called an "electronic engine controller" (EEC) or " engine control unit" (ECU), and its related accessories that control all aspects of a ...

controls and SLR-DC datalink as well as autonomous mode for flying and take-off and landing. As per a report in 2023, the UAV is expected to cater for the Army's need for "robust military-grade drones" for deployment at high-altitude regions. The Army has issued a requirement for 163 High Altitude (launch altitiude: >) and 200 Medium Altitude (launch altitiude: >) Logistics Drones. HAL has officially designated RUAV-200 as Logistics Drone (High Altitude) or for its Army variant. Army also needs at least 50% indigenous content (costwise). The UAV can also perform advanced reconnaissance operations for armoured columns as well as

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

units. It is equipped with electro-optical day/night camera as payload for similar roles The UAV has a operating temperature range of -35°C to +55°C. HAL also plans to develop an armed drone variant based on the design with

network-centric warfare Network-centric warfare, also called network-centric operations or net-centric warfare, is a military doctrine or theory of war that aims to translate an information advantage, enabled partly by information technology, into a competitive advantag ...

operations capabilities. The UAV could be equipped with machine guns, anti-tank missiles as well as air to surface missiles.

Specifications (RUAV-200)

References

External links

IAI UAV - Defence UpdateHAL Tejas - Latest Updates
{{HAL aircraft Unmanned military aircraft of India Rustom Proposed aircraft of India Unmanned military aircraft of Israel Unmanned helicopters HAL aircraft