Wednesday, June 15 2005 15:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: The indigenous Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) Nishant developed by DRDO has completed 100th flight.

The Nishant UAV has been developed to meet the requirements of day/night battlefield surveillance, reconnaissance, target tracking and localisation for engaging guided weapon or artillery fire, according to a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) statement.

"The Nishant UAV system has unique feature of being launched from a short length launcher and recovered using parachute. This makes the UAV system totally mobile and aircraft to be operated without the need for runway," it said.

Nishant UAV system has been developed with Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bangalore, as nodal agency and Defence Electronics Applications Laboratory, Dehradun, Research & Development Establishment (Engineers), Pune and Aerial Delivery Research & Development Establishment, Agra, have contributed in the development of major subsystems.

DRDO said the recent 100th flight of Nishant UAV, which was witnessed by senior Army officers, is a major milestone and with this, the development activities have been successfully completed. Nishant has already undergone user trials and was successfully demonstrated to users.

The statement said the Ministry of Defence is in the process of placing order to DRDO for procurement of Nishant UAV system. "With the induction of Nishant into Services, India is one of the few countries in the world to have its own operation UAV," it was stated.