The Indian Army has received the entire lot of 480 Nagastra-1 loitering munitions from Solar Industries, over a year after signing the contract.
Solar Industries’ subsidiary Economic Explosives beat out Polish and Israeli firms to clinch the 2.12-billion Indian rupee ($25 million) contract in April last year.
The first batch of 120 kamikaze drones was delivered earlier this year following rigorous testing and pre-delivery inspection, according to the Indian Defence Research Wing.
The electric-powered munition is intended to enhance infantry’s tactical capabilities for asymmetrical warfare, including counter-insurgency and urban conflict.
Nagastra-2 and 3 are also being developed with enhanced performance and payload.
Nagastra-1
The man-portable precision strike weapon features over 75 percent indigenous content.
It weighs 30 kilograms (66 pounds), including a one-kilogram (2.20 pound) high-explosive fragmentation warhead capable of neutralizing soft targets.
The GPS-guided munition has a strike accuracy of 2 meters (6.5 feet) and an endurance of 60 minutes, making it ideal for surgical strike missions.
Additionally, the platform features a day/night camera for real-time reconnaissance and target identification and a parachute-recovery mechanism to abort the flight midway.
It has a range of 15 kilometers (9 miles) while flying by remote control and 30 kilometers (19 miles) during autonomous operations.
