What is Lakshya Aircraft?

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About Lakshya Aircraft

It is an indigenously developed micro-light and pilot-less target aircraft.
It designed and built by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a subsidiary of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), for the Indian Armed Forces.
The Lakshya was inducted into the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, and Indian Army in 2000, 2001, and 2003, respectively.
It is a cost-effective re-usable high subsonic aerial target system powered by a gas turbine engine.
The engine is designed and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore.
It is required for evaluation and development trials of new surface-to-air and air-to-air weapon systems.
It carries two tow targets of tow lengths of 1.5 km each, having radar, IR or visual signature augmentation, and a Miss Distance Indication Scoring System.
These tow targets are used for training of land- or ship-based gun and missile crew and combat aircraft pilots in weapon engagement.
It was designed to launch either from land or sea through a zero-length launcher and be recovered by a dual stage parachute system.
The Lakshya can be controlled from the ground control station (GCS) through pre-programmed hardware and software systems.
Designed to be reused for 15 missions, the aircraft can spiflicate airborne incoming enemy targets.

Q1: What is the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)?

It is the R&D wing of the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India, with a vision to empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies and a mission to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems. It is India’s largest research organisation. It has a network of laboratories engaged in developing defence technologies covering various fields, like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, land combat engineering, life sciences, materials, missiles, and naval systems.