New Delhi: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) July 1 successfully carried out the maiden flight of the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator from the Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga, Karnataka.

The aircraft operating in a fully autonomous mode exhibited a perfect flight, including take-off, way point navigation and a smooth touchdown marking a major milestone in terms of proving critical technologies towards the development of future unmanned aircraft and is significant step towards self-reliance in such strategic defence technologies.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is designed & developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, a premier research laboratory of DRDO. It is powered by a small turbofan engine. The airframe, undercarriage and entire flight control and avionics systems used for the aircraft were developed indigenously.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO and said it is a major achievement towards autonomous aircraft and will pave the way for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in terms of critical military systems.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy appreciated the efforts of the teams associated in the design, development and testing of the system.