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Panchi, a wheeled variant of DRDO's Nishant UAV, which is designed for takeoff / landing from small airstrips instead of a dedicated launcher, made its maiden flight on 24 December 2014. Lasting about 20 minutes, the first flight was preceded by a series of high-speed taxi trials. The Panchi UAV retains surveillance capabilities of the Nishant, but will have longer endurance, as it does not have to carry the air bags and parachute recovery system required by the Nishant.