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News: DRDO and the IAF successfully conducted the maiden flight-trial of the Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation (TARA) weapon off Odisha coast.
About The Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation (TARA) Weapon
- TARA is India’s first indigenous glide weapon system that converts unguided bombs into precision-guided weapons.
- Developed by: TARA has been designed and developed by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, along with other DRDO laboratories.
- Aim: The system aims to improve the lethality, accuracy, and stand-off strike capability of low-cost weapons against ground-based targets.
- Key Features:
- Indigenous Glide System: TARA is India’s first indigenous glide weapon system developed to provide gliding capability to conventional bombs.
- Modular Design: The system uses a modular range-extension and precision-guidance kit that can be fitted onto existing High-Speed Low Drag (HSLD) and General Purpose (GP) bombs.
- Precision Guidance: The weapon uses inertial navigation, GPS-assisted guidance, and electro-optical seekers to achieve high targeting accuracy.
- Extended Strike Capability: TARA-equipped bombs can strike targets at ranges of 150–180 km when released from an altitude of around 5 km at speeds approaching Mach 0.8.
- Multi-Platform Integration: The system can be integrated with Jaguar, Mirage-2000, Sukhoi Su-30MKI, and Tejas aircraft for stand-off strike capability.
- Low-Cost Indigenous System: The glide weapon uses state-of-the-art low-cost systems and allows the IAF (Indian Air Force) to utilise existing bomb stockpiles instead of procuring entirely new missile inventories.
