The Indian Army got its first indigenous man portable drone (suicide drones) that are designed to target enemy training camps, launch pads, and infiltrators with precision without endangering the lives of soldiers. Sources say that the first batch of Nagastra drones or loitering munitions or suicide drones has been recived by the Indian Army adding to its ability to take shallow strikes across the border when needed.
The drones were ordered by the Indian Army using its emergency procurement powers and were delivered within a year to meet urgent requirements at the frontiers at the Pakistan and China Borders. The drones can operate at high altitudes at extreme temperatures. Designed and developed fully in India by the Economic Explosives Limited (EEL), the drones can carry out precision strikes with an accuracy of two meters and have a range of 30km.
Drones like Nagastra-1 are a type of loitering munition, in which an aerial weapon is designed to loiter around an area until a target is located and then it attacks the target by crashing into it. What makes these drones distinct is that they enable faster reaction times against hidden targets that emerge for short periods, without placing high-value platforms near the target area, allowing more selective targeting as the attack can be changed mid-flight or aborted.
Designed to be carried by infantry soldiers and personnel, these drones have low acoustic signature and electronic propulsion which makes them a silent killer. They can be used against a variety of soft-skin targets and unlike traditional missiles and precision munitions, these are a low-cost solution that can be employed against relatively low targets like a group of infiltrating terrorists in the borders. Another unique feature is a parachute recovery mechanism which can bring back the munitions in case of an aborted mission, thus enabling it to be used multiple times.
Similar systems are being used in current conflicts, especially in the Russia-Ukraine war and Armenia-Azerbaijan skirmishes. In the past, the armed forces have acquired similar systems from foreign vendors under an earlier round of emergency procurements but are a significantly higher price. The Nagastra Drone has an indigenous content of over 75 percent cutting down dependence on foreign sources. Give the scale of production that has brought down costs. there is a strong case for exports of the munition to friendly foreign nations that have been looking for similar solutions.
The Indian armed forces have been investing in standoff weapons over the past two years some of which can operate in deeper into enemy territory the focus is firmly on procuring all such systems from domestic industry and shunning all imports.
