A replica of India's first-ever semi-stealth drone is now under development. It is being showcased at Aero India which is the mega air-show taking place in Bengaluru this week.
The drone is called 'Warrior' and is part of an indigenous programme called CATS or Combat Air Teaming System. It is described as?"a composite amalgamation of manned and unmanned platforms which work together to penetrate heavily defended enemy airspace."?
Basically, the Warrior drone is designed to operate with an Indian-made Tejas combat aircraft, flown by an Indian Air Force pilot.?
Funded by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the first Warrior prototypes are expected to fly within three to five years.?
"Multiple Warriors will be commanded by a single Tejas," said a source close to the project.?
The idea behind the whole project is to maximise the effectiveness of every mission while also reducing the potential of losing the lives of pilots, since they would be accompanied by the drones which are supposed to protect them.
"The Warrior is being armed with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles," said the source.
Classified as 'low observable', the Warrior will be able to evade radar, thereby making its detection challenging for contemporary systems.
The showcasing of the CATS program at Aero India 2021 is making HAL committed to the Next Generation product development effort, to cater to the warfare needs of the Indian Armed Force.