Indian aerospace agency Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) loyal wingman program will take to the skies for the first time in 2024, the developer told Janes.
The project, officially known as Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) Warrior, began in 2018 and was exhibited during Aero India last year.
The air teaming system consists of a manned fighter jet serving as the “mothership” and a swarm of low-cost drones with payloads, sensors, and warfare capabilities.
The smaller drones fly ahead of their motherships and can be used as decoys to aid, identify, and overwhelm opposing air defenses or to divert attacks away from manned fighter jets.
About the Warrior Drone
The CATS Warrior is a low-cost, twin-engine teaming drone developed to operate alongside and support existing manned Indian Air Force fighter jets like Tejas or Rafale fighter jets.
The loyal wingman will be capable of undertaking high potential targets, surveillance, reconnaissance, and attacking both aerial and ground-based targets. It has a combat radius of 350 kilometers (217 miles) and can be operated from land, sea, and motherships.
Currently, the drone is undergoing wind-tunnel testing. HAL is considering two options for the engine of the drone: PTAE-7 and HTFE-25. The UCAV’s engine will be certified by 2025.