Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

Subject – Defence and Security

Context – Indigenous efforts to make UAVs crosses a milestone

Concept –

The indigenous Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) development programme by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has crossed a milestone by reaching an altitude of 25,000 feet and an endurance of 10 hours.
It has advanced capabilities and meets the requirements of the three Services.
It technologically matches contemporary UAVs available and will also be cheaper than the imported ones.
With some delays in development, the Rustom-2 last year successfully flew for eight hours at an altitude of 16,000 feet.
It has been designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru with production partners being the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and the Bharat Electronics Limited.
It is being developed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles and is capable of carrying different combinations of advanced payload and capable of auto landing among others.
High endurance UAVs are a priority requirement for the armed forces especially in the standoff with China in Eastern Ladakh.
The armed forces rely heavily on the Israeli Searcher and Heron drones and need more such UAVs.

Fire-fighting suit

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had handed to the Home Ministry over a structural fire-fighting suit developed by DRDO’s Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Delhi.
The suit weighing 2.8 kg is an ensemble of several layers, with the outer layer being the most durable and protects against heat, flames, water, chemicals and also against cuts and abrasion, according to the DRDO.
Such a suit has been developed for the first time in the country and meets European standards while at the same time lowering import costs.