Tanay Khare, ATF in my veins !

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Yes, India possesses a handful of Flying Test Beds (FTBs), operated by various Defence
Research Laboratories such as CABS and flown by Qualified IAF test crews from ASTE
(Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment), Bangalore. Currently Indian Research
Laboratories have on their rolls modified HS-748s, Dornier Do-228s and A modified IL-
76 (Based at the Gromov Flight Research Institute, Moscow). Most testing till now was
conducted either on Russian or Israeli platforms.

thats the short of it but if youre still interested read on :)

The HS- 748 :

Majority of the testing in India is carried out the CABS (Centre for Airborne Systems)
The Flight Test Facility at CABS caters for flight testing of system equipment under
development, leading to qualification of the items under flight environment as well as
evaluation of its functionality and performance as an airborne equipment.

Another HS-748 and a Dornier-228 aircraft are to be allotted shortly by IAF to CABS to
accommodate the flight effort for development of the many sub-systems of the Airborne
Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system. The HS-748 -based Development Flight
Test Facility is well supported by Ground Support Equipment and an experienced
Maintenance Crew.
The HS-748 (H-2176) aircraft, has been utilised to flight test a number of indigenous
systems like the Multi Mode Radar (MMR) and Multi Sensor Warning System (MSWS)
for stand-alone testing and evaluation. CABS' team continually interacts with concerned
laboratories for installation of test equipment, clearance of the installation for flight,
flight trial operations, modification of test equipment based on flight evaluation, further
flight testing, etc., till the test item is successfully flight-cleared.

The IL - 76 :

The GTRE (Gas Turbine Research Establishment) operates a Modified IL-76 which it
uses as a Flying Test Bed at Gromov. It tested the indigenous Kaveri engine (Before the
project was shut down) with the engine running right from the take-off to landing, flying
for a period of over one hour up to an altitude of 6,000 metres. The engine helped the
IL-76 aircraft test bed fly at speeds of 0.6 mach in its maiden flight, and upto a max of 1
mach at its peak.
The Do-228 :

Manufactured by the Transport Aircraft Division of HAL at Kanpur,The first aircraft, a

modified Dornier was handed over to DRDO on 1st May 2014. Christened Nabhrathna
signifying a jewel in the sky, for testing aerospace systems.

The whole programme of delivery is done in a short span of one year, even though the
schedule was 18 months, LRDE, a premier DRDO lab known for design, development
and leading to production wide spectrum of indigenous radars, had entered into a
contract for delivery of Modified Dornier, DO-228 aircraft the previous year for testing
the airborne radars and other systems. The DRDO hopes to reduce the dependency on
foreign agencies to carry out the tests, once the desi FTB is operational.

With all modifications, the FTB costs over 100 crores. With the increase in indigenous
aeronautical activities within the country, many industries and government firms were
on the hunt for a suitable platform to undertake standalone tests of critical components
and systems. the initial plan was to go for a foreign aircraft and later equip it with Indian
systems.
Embraer was one of the candidates looked at.Generally the test and design data of an
imported aircraft are not shared owing to the proprietary clause. We couldnt have flown
our own FTB without knowing these details eithero the plan to import was shelved and
DO-228 was the automatic choice. HALs TAD Kanpur have all the expertise available
with them in manufacturing the Dorniers.

With the arrival of a new FTB, the development time for various projects will come
down. The FTB will come handy for all airborne system evaluations.The DRDO has put
two consoles on the FTB, with the potential for adding two more. The FTB is expected to
serve the needs to DRDO for the next 20 years. The new FTB will be on the rolls of
Electronics & Radar Development Establishment, another DRDO lab, and it will be
flown by the Test Pilots from Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment of the Indian Air
Force.

The Future :

The DRDO currently lacks a supersonic FTB and is aggressively pursuing a project to
acquire one, A committee has already been set up to look into the possibilities of
acquiring the FTB. In addition to members from the DRDO, the committee has
representatives from the Indian Air Force and HAL. While Sukhoi is leading the fray, the
advantages of MiG 29 are also being considered by the committee.

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/india/su...