CATS Warrior
A model of HAL CATS Warrior displayed at Aero India 2021
Role Unmanned combat aerial vehicle (loyal wingman)
National origin India
Design group Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Newspace Research & Technologies
First flight 2024 (planned)[1]
Status Detailed design phase[2]
Primary users Indian Air Force (intended)
Indian Navy (intended)

CATS Warrior is a part of the HAL Combat Air Teaming System program. Its work is believed to have started in early 2019 under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the state owned HAL and an Indian private startup Newspace R&D. HAL has done an initial investment of ₹400 crore in CATS Warriors & in Aero India 2021 a full-scale mock-up model was presented for the first time.[3]

Development

CATS Warrior will be an autonomous wingman drone capable of take off & landing from land & in sea from an aircraft carrier, it will team up with the existing fighter platforms of the IAF like Tejas, Su-30 MKI and Jaguar which will act like its mothership.[4] The Warrior is primarily envisioned for the Indian Air Force use and a similar, smaller version will be designed for the Indian Navy. It would be controlled by the mothership and accomplish tasks such as scouting, absorbing enemy fire, attacking the targets if necessary with its internal & external pylons weapons or sacrifice itself by crashing into the target.

It will fly back for mission within the combat radius of 350 km and for long range mission with combat radius of 800 km it will sacrifice itself crashing into the target. As it is an unmanned asset, it can be directed towards a target and sacrificed in case it cannot be flown back to territory.[5] "Warrior will serve as a 'sensor amplifier' for the LCA, flying out ahead of the manned aircraft and using its sensors to feed information back to LCA" HAL test pilot Retd Group Captain H.V. Thakur[6]

HAL management approved a sum of ₹390 Crore ($53.5 Million) for the development as of February 2021. As per Director of HAL Engineering, Research & Development division Arup Chatterjee, the integration with CATS MAX mothership will take 1-2 years and first flights is scheduled for 2024-25.[7]

Design

It has a composite structure with an internal weapon bay & hybrid design whose front section looks like Boeing Airpower Teaming System wingman & from its mid fuselage to its tail like Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie. It has a single serpentine air intake on the top of its fuselage that leads to its two engines. It will be powered by modified HAL PTAE-7 or HAL HTFE-25 turbofan engine.[5]

HTFE-25 turbofan engine

It can carry two new-generation short-range or beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles externally, and two DRDO Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) internally in its internal weapon bay.[8]

SAAW in warrior's internal bay & NG-CCM.[a]

It will be equipped with an electro-optic/infrared payload, Active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, inertial navigational unit, and a jammer for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and combat operations.[2]

Its exhaust will feature chevron nozzle design like Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to reduce the Jet blast noises & radar emissions.

F35 chevron exhaust
CATS Warrior wingman model with chevron exhaust at Aero India 2021

Projected specifications

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

References

  1. ^ "HAL loyal wingman project to go airborne by 2024". Janes. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b "HAL Earmarks $53.5 Million Investment in CATS Warrior Stealth Drone Project". defenseworld.net. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  3. ^ "nation/2021/feb/05/hals-futuristic-deadly-cats-to-be-battle-ready-by-2024-25-2259724". newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Strikes from 700km away to drones replacing mules for ration at 15,000ft, India gears up for unmanned warfare - India News". indiatoday.in. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b "CATS – Combat Air Teaming System". Alpha Defense. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Aero India 2021: HAL's loyal wingmen break cover". janes.com. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  7. ^ "HAL Earmarks $53.5 Million Investment in CATS Warrior Stealth Drone Project". Defense World. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  8. ^ "HAL unveils ambitious air-teaming system centred on Tejas | News". Flight Global. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  9. ^ "HAL's unique deep penetration attack system for fighter pilots to be developed by 2024-25". The New Indian Express. ENN. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  1. ^ The transparent place in the picture is not it's sideway weapon bay, its only a mean to see its internal weapon configuration in HAL warrior model at Aero India. The weapons will be stored internally in center of warrior's body not on its side.
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