Aviation Update — October 2017

Indigenous

Development of

Trawl System by

DRDO

R

&DE (Engrs), a premier system

engineering laboratory under

Armament & Combat Engineering

(ACE) cluster of Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO) has

recently undertaken the design and

development of Trawl System for the

minefield area in the battle zone to meet the

operational requirements of Indian Army.

The indigenous developed Trawl System

is employed for breaching of land mines

and creating a vehicle safe lane, through

a minefield for the advancing columns of

mechanized forces in combat zone. The

equipment consists of Trawl roller, track

width mine plough and electro- magnetic

device (EMD), which caters to the need of

all types of mines usually encountered by

the battle tank in such a scenario. The Trawl

System developed by DRDO is capable of

breaching a variety of land mines including

passive and active influence mines.

The Trawl system recently crossed a major

milestone with the successful completion of

blast trials in collaboration with HEMRL Pune,

which demonstrated the survivability of the

equipment, when subjected to successive

series of blast directly underneath it. The

fieldable prototype of the Trawl System is

in final stage of realization and would be

shortly ready for conduct of User Evaluation

Trials by the Army.

The indigenous development of Trawls

by DRDO is an important step towards

achieving self-reliance in area of critical

military equipment under ‘Make in India’

initiative and would result in saving of

precious foreign exchange for the country.

DEFENCE & MILITARY

Boeing 702

Digital Satellite

to Boost

Connectivity

for Intelsat

Customers

B

oeing has successfully supported seven

out of seven satellite launches this

year, including today’s launch of a 702 high-

throughput digital payload satellite, built for

Intelsat.

Intelsat 37e sent and received its first

signals from space shortly after it launched

today on board an Arianespace Ariane 5

rocket. Once in service, the satellite will

deliver high-throughput services to support

enterprise, broadband, government and

mobility applications in the Americas, Africa

and Europe.

“This latest launch is an example of our

emphasis on quality and reliability to deliver

the right products and capabilities to our

customers,” said Paul Rusnock, chairman and

CEO, Boeing Satellite Systems International,

Inc. “Boeing’s market-leading digital

payload technology gives our customers the

flexibility to adapt to surges in demand for

connectivity when and where it is needed,

as well as adapt to any changes in their

business needs or missions.”

Intelsat 37e is the second Intelsat EpicNG

satellite built by Boeing to launch this year

and the fourth Intelsat EpicNG satellite built

by Boeing. Intelsat 35e, which launched in

July 2017 from Cape Canaveral Air Force

Base, Fla., was handed over to the customer

last month.

AVIATION UPDATE 2017 OCTOBER 19