Bengaluru: If you happen to be around the Garden City this week, beware as it’s a ‘war zone’ here!
With the FDR (Full Dress Rehearsals) beginning at Air Force Station (AFS) Yelahanka ahead of the as the 12th edition of Aero India 2019 set to begin on February 20, it’s virtually raining planes and drones in the city.
The first FDR had the frontline striker Su-30 MKI, newsmaker Rafale, Airbus A330Neo, Jaguars, Hawk-i, Rudra, LCH and aerobatic sky-masters Yaks, SKAT and Sarangs enthralling a group of special invitees.
The rejuvenated vintage DC3 Dakota too had its day out reminding the viewers of its glorious past.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning for yet another FDR on Tuesday to fine tune the flying patterns that syncs perfectly with the commentary team.
But the 12th edition of Plane Carnival will be remembered for the Drone Olympics that began at Jakkur Aerodrome on Monday.
UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) of different shapes and sizes performed aerial duties as per the command given by their masters.
Drone swarms
The impressive formation flight by a swarm of drones gave an insight into how future wars will be fought without the fear of losing the precious life of a pilot.
“Drones with light weight can inflict massive damages if armed in a combat mission. You can fly any numbers, be it 50, 60, 70 or more. At the Drone Olympics here, we are proving the capabilities of these machines be it dropping a courier, a surveillance flight or any other assigned mission in specific time. Our drones have done well,” Dr K Senthil Kumar, director, Centre for Aerospace Research, MIT, Anna University, Chennai, told Onmanorama.
Team Dhaksha from MIT is flying their hybrid design UAV systems at the Drone Olympics.
“The unique vertical take-off and horizontal transition of our UAVs have attracted many. Our UAVs also demonstrated the formation flight using seven micro quad-copters,” Dr Senthil added.
All in all, over 27 teams summoned their drones in the preliminary rounds and nine will head to AFS Yelahanka for the final showdown on February 21.
As reported earlier by Onmanorama, through Drone Olympics, organisers hope to lure private companies to invest in technologies that could deliver small UAVs meant for multiple missions. A total cash prize of Rs 38 lakh awaits the winners.
Inspiring opportunities
Dr G Satheesh Reddy, chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), told Onmanorma on the sidelines of the event that the opportunities in military aviation are inspiring and challenging.
“UAVs are the future and they can bring in tremendous transformation to our military’s combat abilities. We have made inroads in areas like electronics, payloads, structures, propulsion. In aerospace today you got to be smarter and hence your payloads will have to be smaller, lighter and cost-effective,” Dr Reddy said.
Earlier, speaking at the Aero India seminar, he said smart and miniaturized aerospace sensor technologies will be the backbone for futuristic systems.
“We need to focus on AI (Artificial Intelligence) in a big way. AI will impact efficiency, productivity, speed and innovation in the emerging aerospace industries. Advanced materials, hypersonics, avionics, autonomous vehicles and engines are few of our major thrust areas. It is essential to harness the scientific capabilities in universities and industries and we have to take the lead to develop first of its kind technologies in the country,” he said.
Astronaut selection soon
Indian Space Research Organisation chairman Dr K Sivan said the selection of astronauts for the big ticket Gaganyaan mission will be undertaken soon.
“There are many who doubt our ability to beat the 2021 deadline given by the government. We are confident of completing the mission in 40 months. Russia took four years to have their man in space in 1957, and what stops India from doing the same in 40 months?,” Dr Sivan asked.
