Nagpur's Solar Defence hands Army 450 Nagastra-1R loitering munitions in single consignment
Solar Defence and Aerospace Ltd says it is the largest single consignment of such munitions delivered to the Army by any manufacturer.
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Nagpur-based Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL) said on Tuesday that it has delivered 450 Nagastra-1R kamikaze drone-based loitering munitions to the Indian Army in a single consignment. The company claims it is the largest consignment delivered by any manufacturer so far. The delivery has been described as a step that strengthens the Army's indigenous precision-strike capability.
The Nagastra-1R has been designed specifically for the Army's short-range strike requirements. It is built to find and hit targets within a range of 5 km and carries a 1 kg warhead. The system is meant for attacks on personnel and lightly protected vehicles, that is, soft-skin targets.
The drone has day and night surveillance cameras and GPS-based navigation. Its circular error probable (CEP) is claimed to be just 2 metres. Its night-strike capability allows it to operate in low light.
Low noise is a feature of the Nagastra series. According to SDAL, the low noise means the Nagastra-1R cannot be detected at altitudes above 200 metres. It also has an abort-and-return facility: if the target cannot be identified, the drone can call off the attack and return to its control station.
The Army placed the order under emergency procurement, after a rigorous evaluation process. Technical trials were held in March last year at the Special Forces Training School (SFTS) in Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh, in which four companies took part. Several live trials followed to test the system's performance and precision strikes.
According to sources, while the Nagastra-1R is built for short range, the full Nagastra system can strike targets up to 10 km away and stay airborne for 40 minutes. This is twice the stipulated requirement. Independent sources have put its autonomous operating range at up to 15 km.
Despite these capabilities, the system has been made easy to carry. With the ground control station, communication control equipment and pneumatic launcher, its total weight is about 30 kg, so soldiers can deploy it in the field.
Solar Group chairperson Satyanarayan Nuwal said the Nagastra-1R has more than 80 per cent indigenous content. It has been developed jointly with Z Motion Autonomous Systems Private Limited of Bengaluru. He said it is another step towards strengthening defence manufacturing in the country and reducing dependence on imported technology. The company is also working to make the motors used in the system indigenous.
SDAL is expanding its range of unmanned precision-strike systems. The company is building long-range drones of the Kalastra series, which will be able to carry warheads of up to 50 kg. It is also preparing for winter trials of the Canister Launched Anti-Armour Loitering Munition (CALM), a tube-fired weapon meant to be mounted on the infantry fighting vehicles of the mechanised infantry.
The latest delivery reflects Nagpur's growing role in defence manufacturing as Indian companies step up production of indigenous technology for the armed forces.
