Thursday, November 20, 2008

Vihang Netra Soars to New Heights

(Photos: Yogesh Jadhav)
Vihang Netra, the spy plane made for the Indian army for surveillance purpose is going to be used for the radiation detection. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the premier atomic research centre in India is thinking in this direction. The spy plane will have to carry laser altimeter for this task to be performed.


On the occasion of Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) golden jubilee celebration an exhibition of various defence related products was inaugurated on Friday. Dr. Srikumar Banerjee, director, BARC inaugurated the exhibition at the Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), Dighi. While visiting all the stalls at the exhibition, Dr. Banerjee had a look at the Vihang Netra being displayed at the site.


After he was briefed about the plane, Dr. Banerjee asked how low can it fly? When he was told that it can fly at any height, he said, "We want the plane for the detection of radiation, a field wherein humans can not be deployed." He also enquired about the payload carrying capacity of the plane.
Vihang Netra
Vihang Netra is a unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by city based DEMA in association with Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) a DRDO laboratory. The plane has payload carrying capacity of 20 Kg which is mostly comprised of sensors and cameras. It can fly at 17,000 ft. altitude and has one way range of 10 Kms. Its maximum air speed is 100 Km/hour.
Dr. R. N. Sarwade, director, SASE informed Pune Mirror that the design of the next version of Vihang Netra is ready. Vihang Netra 2 will be able to fly at higher altitude and it will have more features in it.


Y. P. Jahagirdar of DEMA said, "The aeroplane can fly at any height but the problem is that normal altimeters show the altitude from sea level. Laser altimeter shows the altitude from the ground level according to the terrain of surface. If we fly the plane at very low and any obstacle comes in between, then accidents will happen. That is why we told Dr. Banerjee that laser altimeters are required."


(published in Pune Mirror on 8 Nov. 2008)


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