Army eyes one-way desi drones with 1,000-km strike envelope

New Delhi: Army has initiated a process to acquire indigenous long-range, one-way attack drones, with the industry being invited to offer systems that can accurately hit targets at a range of 1,000 km, operate in GPS-denied environments and possess AI-enabled targeting.

The process to acquire the drones under the Long Range Loiter Munition (LRLM) project has taken off under the Make II clause of the acquisition policy, which requires the industry to fund its own research and development and Army undertaking to acquire them if all technical specifications are met.

While numbers are yet to be specified, India has a requirement of thousands of one-way attack drones of different ranges. In the current process, Army is looking for a system that can carry a 25 kg warhead for a 50-metre killing radius, has the ability to fly at above 5,000 m and can achieve speeds of at least 400 km per hour.


The desired system needs to be designed for operations in plains, deserts, jungles and hilly terrain and ruggedised to military standards. The acquisition has been initiated by the Regiment of Artillery, which is also acquiring shorter range one-way attack drones. As reported by ET, Tata Advanced Systems Limited and Nibe Defence were recently shortlisted for the procurement of 850 drones, which will have the ability to hit targets at over 100 km.

Under the LRLM programme, Army is seeking to create an entire ecosystem for operation of long-range, one-way attack drones. Army will require a whole set that will consist of a launch vehicle, ground control station, a simulator and 15 aerial vehicles.

The drones will be required to strike on steep, slant and nape-of-earth profiles, similar to systems that are currently being deployed in the Russia-Ukraine war. They will also be required to carry different warheads, including thermobaric and deep penetration types.

Army is also surveying whether the engine, electro optic payload, avionics, mainframe, warhead, and subcomponents are indigenous or imported, and whether imported items will be indigenised over time. The idea is to ensure that an independent ecosystem for manufacturing such drones is created in India, with the ability to surge production as and when needed by the armed forces.