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Indian Army Receives Entire Lot of Indigenous Loitering Munitions

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 in 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 1-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.

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