What is ABHYAS?

About ABHYAS: 

• It is a High Speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT).
• It has been designed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bengaluru, and developed through Production Agencies - Hindustan Aeronautics Limited & Larsen & Toubro. 
• Features
  • It offers a realistic threat scenario for weapon systems practice.
  • This indigenous system is designed for autonomous flying with the help of an autopilot, a laptop-based Ground Control System for aircraft integration, pre-flight checks, and autonomous flight.
  • It also has a feature to record data during flight for post-flight analysis.
  • The booster has been designed by Advanced Systems Laboratory and the navigation system by Research Centre Imarat.

Key Facts about DRDO

• It was formed in 1958 from the amalgamation of the then-existing Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organisation (DSO). 
• 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 has a network of laboratories engaged in developing defence technologies covering various fields, like aeronautics, armaments, electronics etc.
• Headquarters: New Delhi.

Q1: What is aeronautics?

It is the study of the science of flight. Aeronautics is the method of designing an airplane or other flying machine. There are four basic areas that aeronautical engineers must understand in order to be able to design planes.

Source: High Speed Expendable Aerial Target ‘ABHYAS’ successfully completes developmental trials with improved booster configuration