UAV Built By Delhi Students To Begin Flight Testing Next Week

Students from Delhi Technological University will begin flight testing their indigenously developed unmanned aerial vehicle called Puskpak next week. The project is being reviewed by Lockheed Martin. The Pushpak weighs about 15 lbs (6.8kg), has a wing span of 12 feet and can endure up to 8 hours in flight. Its capabilities include real-time surveillance, mid-air engine restart incase of failure and can operate in temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius. In 2009, Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC) began funding the Delhi Technological University (DTU) team to develop a UAV after the team beat out universities like MIT and Stanford in a US-based competition to design a small UAV. John Sheehan, senior systems engineer from Lockheed Martin, said, “The project was aimed at mentoring students, to support them in developing an indigenous aircraft”.