DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat said the prototype flight was a “mile mark” aimed at achieving lighter than air high-altitude platform systems and maintaining long endurance of air storage at stratosphere height.
The Ministry of Defense said the height of the initiating payload of the airship platform is about 17 kilometers.
The platform's successful flight test is an escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan over the Pahalgam terrorist attacks.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh congratulates DRDO on the successful girl flight trial. He said the system will uniquely enhance India's Earth observation and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, making the country one of the few countries in the world with such indigenous capabilities. “DRDO successfully conducted its first flight test of the stratospheric airship platform from the Sheopur test site in Madhya Pradesh on May 3,” the Ministry of Defense said.
It said that developed by the Agra-based Aviation Delivery Research and Development Agency, the airship is at an altitude of about 17 kilometers with tool loads.
“Data from onboard sensors were received and will be used to develop high-quality fidelity simulation models for future high-altitude airship flights,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The sealing pressure control and emergency ventilation system was deployed in flight for performance evaluation. The test team restored the system for further investigation. The total duration of the flight was about 62 minutes.”
