News Excerpt:
Flying Wedge Defence, a defence and aerospace technology firm unveiled the FWD-200B unmanned aircraft. The firm claimed that it is India’s first indigenous bomber unmanned aircraft.
About the news:
- While the U.S. Predator costs a staggering ₹250 crores, our indigenous FWD-200B, built with state-of-the-art technology and manufactured in India, slashes the cost to a mere ₹25 crores.
- Driven by a commitment to reducing India’s reliance on costly bomber unmanned aircraft imports and boosting the Make in India initiative, the company aims to position India as a global drone manufacturing and technology hub while equipping the nation with the right air defence resources and enhancing national security.
- This also positions India as a leader in cost-effective defence solutions.
- The FWD-200B has a payload capacity of 100 kg and is classified as a MALE Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (medium-altitude, long-endurance).
- The Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) consists of optical surveillance payloads and is integrated with missile-like weapons for precision air strikes.
- With a max speed of 200 kts/370 kmph, it has an endurance capacity of 12-20 hours.
- It can carry a maximum takeoff weight of 498 Kg and holds a ground control station (GCS) range of 200 km.
- By the next three months, the company intends to get the certification done. Once the certification is done the aircraft will be ready to be inducted into the forces.
- The aim will be to sell it to other countries like African and South East Asian countries which cannot afford $32 billion American Predator UAVs but can buy $3 billion Indian products.
