DRDO's 'TAPAS' Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Crashes In Agricultural Field In Karnataka's Chitradurga

A drone named 'TAPAS' which belonged to the DRDO crashed during a trial in a field in Karnataka's Chitradurga district.

Screengrab from the video that showed the crashed DRDO drone

Source : Twitter/@PTI

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) belonging to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) crashed during a trial in an agriculture field in the Chitradurga district of Karnataka on Sunday.

#WATCH | A Tapas drone being developed by the DRDO crashed today during a trial flight in a village of Chitradurga district, Karnataka. DRDO is briefing the Defence Ministry about the mishap and an inquiry is being carried out into the specific reasons behind the crash: Defence… pic.twitter.com/5YSfJHPxTw

— ANI (@ANI) August 20, 2023

News agency PTI, quoting sources, said the DRDO's drone was on a test flight when the incident occurred. Videos and images showed that the TAPAS experimental UAV broke following the crash and its equipment inside were scattered on the field. A large number of villagers gathered at the spot soon after the UAV crashed with a loud noise, and alerted the local authorities.

In 2021, a UAV was acquired to counter Maoist activities in Chhattisgarh's Bastar but crashed into the outer wall of Jagdalpur airport during its trial run.

According to The New Indian Express, the Bastar zone inspector general of police P Sunderraj confirmed the news about the crash landing while talking to the media and said that no casualties or injuries were reported.

The New Indian Express reported that the crashed advanced drone belonged to the DRDO and it had been procured from a foreign nation. During the time of the crash, the outdoor trial was being operated by a team of experts.

The loud noise that was generated from the crash incident alarmed the people. According to The New Indian Express, officials concerned with the matter said that the crash occurred due to some technical snag. They refrained from divulging any further details due to security-related reasons.