The Indian Army has struck a deal with a local company to procure 450 loitering munitions.
Solar Industries Nagpur beat out Polish and Israeli firms to clinch the 2.12 billion Indian rupee ($25 million) contract to supply Nagastra-1 kamikaze drones.
“Economic Explosives Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has signed a contract for the supply of loitering munitions with the Ministry of Defence,” PSU Watch reported, citing a Solar Industries regulatory filing.
The army signed the deal under emergency provisions, which necessitates delivery within one year.
Features
The electric-powered munition features a day/night camera for surveillance missions and a fragmentation warhead to neutralize “soft-skin” targets, according to The Economic Times.
The munition has a man-in-the-loop range of 15 kilometers (9 miles) and an autonomous range of 30 kilometers (19 miles).
The GPS-guided munition can strike a target with an accuracy of 2 meters (6.5 feet) and has 60 minutes of endurance.
If a mission is aborted, the platform can be called back and landed with a parachute recovery mechanism for reuse.