Young scientists at DRDO to develop new cargo drones for Himalayan borders

DRDO Young Scientist Laboratories (DYSL), where scientists below the age of 35 work, has been tasked to come up with a new class of cargo drones for the Indian forces along the Himalayan frontier.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is pursuing a new class of drones that will be able to carry loads at high-altitude regions. Interestingly, the task of creating these new drones for logistics operations along the Himalayan frontier has been assigned to the young scientists in the agency.

The task has been made public in a recent request for proposal that seeks development partners for the cause. The proposal has been floated by DRDO Young Scientist Laboratories or DYSL, a recently formed agency where all the scientists, including the directors, are below 35 years of age. DYSL appoints its talent from the five specialised research establishments.

In the proposal, DYSL has defined its requirement for an eight-engined unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that will use a carbon-composite airframe. This will understandably help make the drone lightweight. The scientists aim to design the octocopter in a way that it has a gross all-up weight, including payload, of less than 80 kg.

As reported by The Tribune, the new drone or UAV will use eight propellers to take off and land vertically at altitudes of up to 15,000 feet. The idea is to airlift up to 50 kg of cargo over a distance of 10 km. However, this load-bearing capacity of the drones will vary as per the altitude they fly at.

At sea level, this payload capability is meant to be 50 kg. This capacity is bound to decrease with an increase in altitude. The scientists, thus, aim at delivering over 20 kg of payload at extreme altitudes. The temperature constraints the drone is meant to battle have been defined as up to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Some other important features are also desired on the UAV. For instance, it is supposed to have both fully autonomous and semi-autonomous flight modes. The drone will also employ artificial intelligence for target tracking and precision launch and landing. It will use geo-fencing for operating within a definite region. It will also have a failsafe system in place which will help it return to base in case it loses connection with the operator or is running out of battery.

This is not the first time that defense forces in India aim at employing UAVs for logistics or surveillance. The forces have used both imported and indigenous drones of all types for operations in such extreme altitudes and regions. While surveillance and recce drones have been used aplenty, the new octocopter for logistics will enable a crucial ability to deliver cargo at hard-to-reach points in time.