Taking an important step in the development of India’s weapon capability, the country’s scientists are developing a solar-powered aircraft. This aircraft will be able to fly continuously for 90 days. A small version of this has been successfully flown for 10 hours.
The plane, called the High-Altitude Platform (HAP), has been developed by the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) in Bengaluru. The HAP is a solar-powered and self-flying unmanned aircraft. It can fly at stratospheric levels. It is capable of operating day and night at an altitude of 17 to 20 kilometres, remaining in the sky for months. HAPs with payloads are often called high-altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS).
A Bengaluru-based startup called New Space Research and Technology has developed a similar 24-hour long prototype.
According to NAL, HAPS can fill the gap in perpetual theatre and strategic air assets during conflict, especially during force mobilisation. It can fulfil both strategic and tactical roles of ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) and can also provide communications on the battlefield. When used by air defence services, such aircraft can play an additional role in directing operations.
Efforts to develop HAPS around the world
According to reports, the only functional HAPS in the world so far is the Airbus Zephyr, which has demonstrated 64 days of continuous flight in the Arizona desert in the US. There are several efforts underway to develop such platforms around the world, including in the US, the United Kingdom, Germany and New Zealand.
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Aerospace Laboratory (CSIR-NAL) conducted a series of flight tests on the Solar-Secondary Battery Subscale High Altitude Platform Vehicle at the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Challakere, Karnataka earlier this year. The aircraft was equipped with all the payloads and flight systems, though smaller in size. The full-scale version will be much larger.
The wingspan of this aircraft is about 12 meters (about 40 feet). When fully equipped, it weighs less than 22 kilograms.
Eye in the Sky
“It is a powerful solar-powered eye in the sky, much cheaper and more versatile than a satellite. It is easier to deploy and can be kept in the air for several weeks,” Dr L Venkatakrishnan, head of the HAPS programme at the National Aerospace Laboratories, told NDTV.
Dr Venkatakrishnan said, “The aircraft met or exceeded all the performance parameters set for it. This includes a slow flight duration of over 8.5 hours, reaching an average altitude of about 3 kilometres above sea level. With high-performance solar PV (photovoltaic cells) and battery systems, the Subscale can reach 24 hours of slow stable flight with a payload of about one kilogram, making it useful for a variety of low-altitude activities.”
Equivalent weight of bike
NAL aims to achieve a HAPS operational range of 90 days. Dr Venkatakrishnan says the final version will have a wingspan as wide as an Airbus 320, but weigh as much as a normal motorcycle.
The biggest advantage of HAPS is that it can be used to continuously monitor enemy territory, be it day or night. Once it is equipped with the right sensors, it becomes a unique bird in the sky that can keep an eye on some of India’s neighbours.
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