Defence Ministry considers establishing umbrella body for aircraft, drone, and weapon testing

The Defence Ministry is exploring the creation of a National Aerospace Testing Establishment (NATE) to oversee and streamline the testing and evaluation of all military aircraft, helicopters, drones, and airborne weapons, reported TOI.

This proposed body aims to integrate various agencies, including the armed forces, DRDO, and defence PSUs like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), under a single entity, enhancing efficiency and reducing delays in project timelines.

NATE will provide a "synergistic approach" to flight-testing, which currently involves multiple organizations conducting time-consuming ground and airborne trials. By consolidating these efforts, NATE will not only streamline processes but also shorten the prototype development cycle, benefiting the growing private sector, MSMEs, and start-ups involved in military aviation.

As a single-window agency, NATE will engage with private industry from the design stage to product certification, making the process more cost-effective and accessible. It will also offer pre-design assessments and feasibility studies based on the armed forces' requirements, further reducing development time, as per the TOI report.

Spearheaded by the Indian Air Force (IAF), which runs the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) and the Air Force Test Pilots School (AFTPS) in Bengaluru, the NATE proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Defence’s Department of Military Affairs, led by Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan. The CDS visited ASTE-AFTPS earlier this year to review the progress of the initiative.

Countries like the UK and France have similar centralized flight-testing structures, and it is believed that establishing NATE will lead to better utilization of existing resources and a more integrated approach to aviation development in India. Given the specialized nature of flight-testing and the resource-intensive process it involves, NATE is expected to require significant investments in modern testing equipment, facilities, and human resources.

Additionally, NATE will serve as a repository of all flight-testing data and software related to aircraft, helicopters, drones, and weapons like surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. For instance, the flight-testing of modified Sukhoi-30MKI fighters equipped with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles required extensive trials before they were operationally deployed, showcasing the need for a unified testing body.

(With inputs from TOI)