DRDO tests indigenous high-altitude airship

New Delhi: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully carried out a flight trial of an indigenously-developed high-altitude airship platform, a lighter-than-air system as a long-endurance stratospheric aerial surveillance platform, officials said on Tuesday.Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented the DRDO, the Indian Air Force, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and the industry on the successful flight trial of the High-Altitude Platform and said the trial is an important milestone in the "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" journey towards realising a long-endurance stratospheric airship.The experimental flight attained an altitude of 21 km above mean sea level (AMSL) and remained at an altitude of 20 km AMSL for more than 30 minutes, before it was commanded to descend back to ground, the defence ministry said.The system was successfully recovered and the flight-performance data analysed.The trial was conducted in coordination with various agencies, namely, the Indian Air Force, the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other civil authorities.Real-time video data and all other vehicle parameters were acquired from the airborne platform at the ground control station during the entire flight, which showed intended flight performance, the ministry said."System carried various instrumentation and control electronic packages like an inertial measurement unit, global positioning system receiver, onboard cameras, altitude control mechanism, besides various other sub-systems," it said.The High-Altitude Platform, a lighter-than-air system as a long-endurance stratospheric aerial surveillance platform, is being designed and developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), Agra, the ministry said.Defence Secretary and Secretary, Department of Defence R&D, and Chairman, DRDO, Rajesh Kumar Singh congratulated the teams associated with the flight trial of the high-altitude airship platform.