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Ú Nishant is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Ú Developed by India¶s Aeronautical
Development Establishment(ADE),a
branch of Defense Research and
Development Organisation(DRDO)
Ú To meet the Army¶s requirements it was
developed by DRDO
Ú It made its first test flight in 1995
Ú In July 1999 the Indian Army used the
Nishant UAV system for the first time in
the fight against guerilla forces in
Kashmir
Ú It had been developed for the battle field
surveillance and reconnaissance needs of
the Indian Army



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Ú DRDO launched again the test flight in 5th
April 2009
Ú Their main goal was to test the
performance of Wankel engine used on
UAV
Ú The flight took off from the World warII
runway near Kolar and climbed to an
altitude of 5600ft
Ú The total flight duration was 40 minutes
Ú The engine, a Wankel rotary type was
jointly developed by NAL,CSIR
laboratory and ADE bangalore
Ú The engine weighs about 30kg and known
for its high power to weight ratio in a
single rotor category



Ú Day/Night capability
Ú Battlefield reconnaissance and
surveillance
Ú Target tracking
Ú Artillery fire correction
Ú All terrain mobility
Ú Endurance :4 hrs 30 mins
  


Ú ºobile Hydro Pneumatic
Launcher(ºHPL)
Ú Ground control station
Ú Avionics preparation vehicle
Ú UAV transportation vehicle
Ú Power supply vehicle
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Ú The 380kg NISHANT requires rail
launching from a Hydropneumatic
launcher
Ú Launches at a velocity of 45m/s with
100kW power
Ú Subsequent launches can be carried out in
intervals of 20 mins
Ú The ºHPL system mounted on a Tatra
truck weighs 14000kg
Ú It has a lifecycle of 1000 launches before
requiring overhaul
 
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Ú NISHANT is recovered by parachute and
landing bags
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1. Length : 4.63m (15.2 ft)
2. Wing span : 6.57m (21.6 ft)
3. Empty weight : 380 kg
4. Payload : 45 kg

 
Ú ºaximum speed : 185 km/hr
Ú Cruise speed : 120km/hr-150km/hr
Ú Range : 160 km/hr
Ú Service ceiling : 3600m(upto 11800 ft)
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Ú NISHANT is one of the few UAV¶s in the
world in its weight class capable of being
catapult launched and recovered by a
parachute
Ú Thus eliminating the need for runway