India Tests Mini-Drone With Pulsejet Engine

Engaged with helping design suitable propulsion systems for unmanned air systems across the board, the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) has apparently tested a scaled-down (how scaled down is unclear) Rustom-1 airframe with an indigenously developed valved pulsejet engine. This picture was taken during the flight test which possibly happened early this year, or perhaps late 2010, but provides a sense of the things NAL is trying out. The agency is also involved with the Rustom-H MALE UAV and the AURA stealth UCAV programme, in the areas of design, materials and propulsion.

Photo / NAL Annual Report

41 thoughts on “India Tests Mini-Drone With Pulsejet Engine”

  1. Nice, now make a scaled up version flying at altitudes where the noise of pulsejet doesn't reach the ground 🙂

    Twinblade

  2. Finally, seeing something new. I wish more and more such out of the box thinking for ideas needs to be explored and refined. Never give up on any ideas you may have, especially if your boss thinks they are useless. Tell your boss to go find some useful work.

  3. I wonder, whether it would buzz like the German V-1 flying bomb. Might not serve the purpose of it being stealthy. Of course PJE would be easier to build and maintain, once you get the design right.

    Best of Luck to NAL

  4. Hi, shiv sir…
    nice work..i am big fan of your Blog…& new on this blog…& always waiting for new update on livefist!!
    keep going on…though i'm new, i've read almost all your post on livefist!!
    plz sir, is there any update on AURA & final date about MMRCA..?

  5. If you look up youtube there r many amateur RC enthusiast who have built very similar valved pulse jet engines.. The fact that DRDO is still studying what an amateur RC pilot knows is some what shocking…! If you want Jet engines for small aircraft's there is already a Indian company in COIMBATORE called UMS which builds micro turbines but did DRDO buy it from the and encourage them.. NO!!

  6. As pulse jet engine is the simplest and cheapest, so it is the best option for such purposes. As such they should be encouraged to keep it up.

    BTW, we shall not wait and expect that any american drone will fall over India in intact condition.

  7. Lol, what on earth is this??

    I build these things with my mate and we fly them in the local park, Scared to think that something this loud will provide any sort of stealth.

    The US is building RQ-170 which is like a spacecraft. And the Indians are building aircraft for 12 year olds.

  8. showman ship man!!! showmanship!!! vidya Balan shows some thing to attract in dirty picture…so NAL had to show some thing too!!!! just joking…i do have lot of respect for NAL!!!! NAL.. what ever you do…good luck….

  9. My friends and I did a project at NAL where we had to fix up structural design flaws of a mini gas turbine engine. The gas turbine is still being developed.
    I could also hear loud noises from the adjacent facility which is the high speed combustion testing facility and I had guessed that it would be of a pulse jet engine. This post just confirmed my guess.

  10. I dont know Why i hate these looser

    But I want to them ol

    Bloody gang on old people can't think fresh

    make some better turboprop u idiots

    or Let Youngster to join it

  11. HAL and NAL you shameless people. Atleast you people don't waste our (Indian brothers and sisters) hard work money on this stupid and worthless technology.

    Please do some creative work and develop some world class and state of art technology. If you guys have any pride of yourself.

  12. Stoopid NAL is using 60 year old technology now, and wants us to believe it is "advanced".

    Also, it doesn't have sloped armour.

    Pathetic!

  13. Germans built their v1 rockets using this technology in WW2. Now great yindians are reinventing the same bullock cart age technology in 21st century. Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan and Mera Bharat Mahaan. I hope NAL is also inventing the new wheel for cars, a square one may be.

  14. I think they are validating the aero dynamics at higher speeds. Please don't think a couple of idiots are sitting in chairs at NAL. Surely there will be some purpose of this test.

  15. Ppl plz dont be egoistic bcoz of your experiences with rc planes and pulse jet engine…

    If NAL is doing sumthing it will be of serious in nature. You ppl may have a engineering degree from local college to design RC planes. But dont assume that ppl working at NAL are like you…they are toppers from MIT and IIT Mumbai…

    And for all those who make more noise dont forget that NAL didnt publish this thing…But picked by the blogger…this is just a one off from the annual report of NAL 2011…

    But wait for surprises ahead…!!!

    If USA had sat down saying Bat winged design are world war 2 relics…then today there would have not been any stealth UAV kissing ass in afgan and pak…even pulse jet engine are of same era..!!!

  16. your RC planes are basically same as the drones bombing left right and centre in pakistan..why not criticize US for spending millions of $$ in developing that….

    if you think that the things are equivalent then that IS the reason why you are still doing RC aircraft bought from gift shops

  17. Why people doing unnecessary talks over here atleast NAL is doing something .PDE is not a simple task .do appriciate some .

  18. First make a aircraft which has taken nearly 30 years which still looks like 3rd generation.
    Than dream about a drone which even your masters Russia cant make.
    You people lives in fools dream.
    Every think from arjun tank is a russian copy, crap

  19. Guys, read the artical again, it was happend 1 year back. This is not new. We have see out UAV is flying with propeller isn't it? This was a test to check and validate the aero dnamics of air frame at that speed. That means, they took the airframe and attached it to the PJE. Observe again, there is no engine for that UAV.

    Shiv, you must clear the air about this. Ppl are blaming NAL for nothing.

  20. they probably thought everyone forgot about the pulsejet engine seeing as it was last used on a military craft over 60 yrs ago.

  21. The state of research and development in India is even more pathetic than I thought it was. The gap between Indian and Chinese capabilities is now so vast that it is scary – even more that in 1962. We all know where this is headed. After wasting precious time and money the Israelis will ultimately be brought in the name of `joint development' and at an exorbitant price to save face.

  22. Lets not fool our self here.

    This particular model was purchased off the shelf and then flown by DRDO people.

    Today's aam junta has more then enough knowledge to know who is fucking with them.

    Heading should have been "DRDO buys RC plane from abroad".

  23. @ADE ……Degree from MIT and IIT? For a second I thought you were talking about ITI. Now ITI students making an RC jet with pulse jet engine would have been a REAL achievement!

  24. I've seen UAVs made by IITian students at Defexpo that look more advanced than what DRDO and NAL put out.

    It's sad that all the hundreds of crores that we sink into our Socialist Defence PSUs and govt labs only produce this kind of results.

    Do with USA did with its X-Prize: Support private innovators. That's the only way we'll build a world-class aerospace industry in India, not a PSU monopoly.

  25. Poor they. Nor they have the brains to develop anything innovative nor they have that desire to even upgrade. These models can be made and worked upon by 12th graders the only problem is funding and availability of parts in India.At the moment these are available at US sites only. 🙁

Leave a Reply to Mr. Ra Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Scroll to Top