New rotary takes flight in India

News of a successful new Wankel rotary engine is unusual and highly welcome—and here’s some. On 31 March 2009 India’s Nishant unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) successfully flew with a rotary engine built entirely in India. Online reports said the engine “performed very well”, “met the requirements”, and climbed “effortlessly”. It was the maiden flight for this new engine and first for any Indian UAV using an indigenous engine. The Nishant has previously used the imported AR–801, a derivative of the old Norton motorcycle rotary, built by UAV Engines Ltd (UEL) in Britain. The new rotary, designation not given, is intended to replace the AR–801.
UAVs, also known as remotely-powered vehicles (RPVs), historically include drones. Today, however, they are highly important for reconnaissance and related duties, as with Nishant, and some can carry weapons systems. India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) proposed what became Nishant (= “restless” in Hindi) in 1988 as an indigenous UAV for the Indian military. After the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE, a branch of DRDO) began development of the craft, it first flew in 1995, went on public display at an air show in 1996, and completed 100 test flights by mid–2005.
The Indian Army began trials in 1999, including deployment during a skirmish against Pakistan-supplied guerrillas in Kashmir province that year. Despite some teething pains and developmental delays, more recent trials have been successful. The Nishant system is expected to become operational soon with the Indian Army, which has ordered 12 with three mobile launchers. Aviation Week & Space Technology began including it in the UAV chart contained in its annual aerospace industry listings in 2006.
Clearly the military desired a UAV built entirely within India for strategic reasons, so a new India-built rotary engine had to follow to replace the AR–801. ADE, the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), and other Indian organizations began development of that engine after feasibility studies in the late 1990s. The Propulsion Division of NAL had test-flown in 1998 what was billed as “probably the world’s first Wankel rotary engine–powered hang glider”, Altair, powered by a 35 hp UEL AR–731, so the division naturally inaugurated a Wankel testing laboratory in June 1999. Fabrication of components and development of a process to coat the rotor housing trochoid had begun by 2005. Test bed trials began shortly afterward. Program progress received brief mentions in the NAL annual reports, available online.
01/05/09 Edwin Krampitz, Jr/Roatry News

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General May 2009