iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Elon Musk’s assertion that future wars will be won by nations with the most effective drones is proving to be more than just speculation.
The Indian Army has received its first batch of ‘suicide drones’ called ‘Nagastra-1’, designed to strike enemy training camps and launch pads in border areas with precision.
These high-tech drones are manufactured in India by Economic Explosives Limited (EEL), a subsidiary of Solar Industries in Nagpur. The Army has ordered 480 drones, with at least 120 reportedly delivered.
‘Nagastra-1’ is a type of “loitering munition”, an aerial weapon with an in-built warhead designed to loiter around an area until a target is located and then crash into it. These indigenously developed drones offer selective targeting, which can change or abort attacks mid-flight.
In ‘kamikaze mode’, the drone can neutralize threats with a GPS-enabled precision strike, accurate to within 2 meters. The fixed-wing electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) weighs around 9 kg, has an endurance of 30 minutes, a man-in-loop range of 15 km, and an autonomous mode range of 30 km.
The drone can carry a 1 kg warhead up to 15 km, with an upgraded version capable of carrying a 2.2 kg warhead up to 30 km. If a target is not detected or the mission is aborted, the drones can be recalled and make a soft landing using a parachute recovery mechanism, allowing for multiple uses.
Drone warfare has become increasingly common worldwide. Recently, Ukraine attacked Russian targets with 25 combat drones, while Yemen’s Houthi group claimed attacks on US naval vessels and commercial ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.
In a related development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden announced defense and technology deals last year, including armed SeaGuardian drones. India plans to purchase General Atomics’s armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian UAVs, which will be assembled in India. These drones will enhance the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India’s Armed Forces across domains.
