BANGALORE: The valedictory of the first Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) flight test and evaluation course was held on Wednesday. Air Vice Marshal R K S Bhadauria V M, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Projects), IAF, was present at the ceremony. Air Force Test Pilots School (AFTPS) established in 1973 is an institution which trains flight test crew in both fixed as well as rotary wing aircraft. Officials informed that it was a part of ASTE and it is one of the seven test pilots schools in the world and the only one of its kind in Asia.They added that the school had been training production test pilots, experimental test pilots and flight test engineers in fixed wing and rotary wing manned aircrafts and a total of 33 flight test courses and 12 production test pilot courses have been completed till date. They said that Remotely Piloted Aircraft have proven to be force enablers in aerial campaigns and changed the complexion of future wars. With increasing emphasis on indigenous development, they informed that the DRDO had initiated numerous RPA programmes to meet the future requirements of the armed forces. With the rapid growth of RPA, flight testing of indigenous RPA assumes greater significance. With this objective, the first ever RPA flight test and evaluation course within the country was conducted at AFTPS. During the ceremony, the trophy for the best all-round student was awarded to Wing Commander N V Ramachandran.
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