Speed Taxi Trial of Landing Gear of Indian Rustom 2 UAV

India’s Combat Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) conducted a speed taxi trial for the landing gear for indigenously-built ‘Rustom 2’, a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

The maiden flight of the two ton UAV with the landing gear was held successfully on Thursday at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka, Times of India reported Thursday.

The $218 million Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV is being developed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance. The UAV project was initiated considering requirement of the the Army, Navy and Air Force.

In February this year, India flight tested Rustom 2 drone in Chitradurga. Rustom 2 is part of the Rustom line of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that includes Rustom-I, Rustom-H and Rustom-C.

The UAV has been designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the DRDO, and aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics are its production partners.