Maiden check of SAAW from Hawk-i plane profitable

Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: In a significant increase to self-reliance in aerospace and aeronautics business, India on Thursday efficiently test-fired Smart AntiAirfield Weapon (SAAW) from Hawk-i plane off Odisha coast.

The indigenously developed SAAW was the primary stand-off good weapon to be fired from Hawk-Mk132 plane constructed by the State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The 1.85-metre lengthy weapon with a dummy warhead was dropped from the plane flying at about one km above the floor and it glided over the ocean earlier than zeroing on the pre-designated goal space at about 100 km away.

The plane flown by HAL check pilots Wg Cdr (Retd) P Awasti and Wg Cdr (Retd) M Patel executed the weapon launch in a check e-book method and all mission targets had been met.

The telemetry and monitoring techniques captured all mission occasions confirming the success of the check flight. The SAAW is India’s first indigenous anti-airfield weapon that has been designed and developed by DRDO.

It is an aircraft-launched and superior precision strike weapon of 125 kg class used to assault and destroy enemy airfield property akin to radars, bunkers, taxi tracks and runways inside a variety of 100 km.

The light-weight weapon with inertial steerage operates in ‘fire and forget’ precept. Carrying excessive explosive warhead, it might probably penetrate deep into the enemy territory with an error likelihood of lower than three metre.

The guided weapon was earlier test-fired efficiently from Jaguar plane. CMD of HAL R Madhavan stated it’s a main shot within the arm for the nation’s purpose of attaining self-reliance within the defence sector.

The firm owned Hawk-i platform is being extensively used for certification of techniques and weapons developed by DRDO and CSIR labs, he stated.

The Hawk-i is HAL’s internally funded programme providing the Indian Armed Forces an improve and fight functionality for the Hawk plane, remodeling it into a sophisticated jet coach offering coaching on sensors and weapons in peacetime and right into a potent fight platform throughout battle.

Director of Engineering and R&D Arun Chatterjee stated the HAL is enhancing the coaching and fight functionality of Hawk-i.