Indian Army gets Nagastra kamikaze drones: Solar Defence delivers largest consignment of loitering munitions to armed forces

Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL), a subsidiary of Solar Industries India, has dispatched 450 Nagastra loitering munitions to the Indian Army in a single supply batch, according to a company press release. The order was placed under the Army’s emergency procurement process after trials of the Nagastra-1R system, the company said.

SDAL described the delivery as the largest single-batch supply of loitering munitions to the Indian Army by a manufacturer. The company said four firms participated in the technical trials, but it was the only one to demonstrate all the required operational parameters.

The Nagastra-1R variant was configured to meet the Army’s requirements for short-range operations. According to SDAL, the system supports kamikaze-style attacks as well as mission abort and recovery options.


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Nagastra-1R underwent trials for accuracy

The company said the system’s performance was assessed through multiple live trials, including evaluations of target-hit accuracy. However, the press release did not disclose detailed trial results or provide an independent assessment of the system’s performance.

SDAL said the delivery marked a milestone for its loitering munition programme and indicated a focus on further long-term deployments of its systems with the armed forces.

Nagastra-1 capabilities

Nagastra-1 is a fixed-wing, electric-powered unmanned aerial vehicle designed to loiter over an area before striking a designated target. The system is intended for precision attacks and can operate in a kamikaze mode, in which the drone hits the target and is destroyed.

The drone reportedly offers GPS-enabled precision of around two metres and can operate at altitudes exceeding 4,500 metres. It is equipped with day-and-night surveillance cameras and a warhead designed to engage soft-skin targets.

The specifications state that the electric UAV has an endurance of up to 60 minutes, a range of 15 kilometres under man-in-the-loop control and an autonomous operating range of 30 kilometres. It also has an abort-and-recovery mechanism that allows it to return for landing by parachute if a mission is cancelled or a target is not identified.

The system is designed for use against targets such as militant training camps, launch pads and infiltrators, with the aim of enabling precision strikes while reducing soldiers’ exposure to danger. Its electric propulsion is also intended to reduce its acoustic signature.