The Rustom-H, India's Medium Altitude Long Endurance [MALE] Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAV] is now under test with enhanced set of capabilities.
Recently, for the first time it flew with a Gimbal-mounted Electro-Optical [EO] Sensor Payload & was able to "talk" to it's human operators via onboard Satellite Communication [SATCOM] system.
7 years ago, it's principal developer, the Aeronautical Development Establishment [ADE], had tapped into the Indian Private Sector for the development of a secure SATCOM link. The Instruments Research and Development Establishment [IRDE] is believed to have developed the EO package.
These are significant expansions in the Rustom's capability envelope. While the EO sensors enhances the quality of it's ISR missions, the SATCOM would permit exploitation of the UAV's full operational range, allowing human intervention at any point.
A progressively maturing programme, occasional hiccups notwithstanding.
Photograph, courtesy: DRDO
Godspeed
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