Nagpur: Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL), based in Nagpur, on Tuesday said it has delivered 450 Nagastra 1R short-range kamikaze drone-based loitering munitions to the Army, claiming it was the largest single batch supplied by any manufacturer.Nagastra 1R has been custom-made for the army’s short-range kamikaze attack to hit targets within 5km. An earlier version of Nagastra was also deployed by the army in Operation Sindoor, where it hit longer-range targets.Armed with a 1kg warhead, the 1R is designed to hit soft-skin targets, which refer to troops and vehicles. It carries day and night surveillance cameras, has night attack capability, and uses GPS-guided navigation that delivers a circular error probable (CEP) of 2 metres. Among the five versions of the Nagastra series, the 1R remains undetected at a height of over 200 metres due to its low acoustic feature.It can also abort the attack if the target cannot be detected and return to the control station, according to a statement issued by SDAL.The army placed the order under emergency procurement after rigorous trials. Four companies took part in technical trials at its Special Forces Training School (SFTS) in Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh, in March last year. System performance was also evaluated through multiple live trials for target-hit accuracy.Nagastra has the capacity to hit up to 10km and has a 40-minute endurance, which is double required standards, said sources. Its autonomous mode range goes up to 15km, said independent sources. It is also a man-portable system, carrying a weight of 30kg, which includes the ground control station, communication control and pneumatic launcher.Solar Group chairperson Satyanarayan Nuwal said Nagastra 1R has more than 80% indigenous content and has been designed in association with Bengaluru’s Z Motion Autonomous Systems Private Limited. The company is now in the process of indigenising motors, a key component, in the coming days.In a parallel development, SDAL is working on the Kalsastra series of long-range drones carrying a warhead of up to 50kg. The company is also preparing for winter trials of Canister Launched Anti-Armour Loitering Munitions (CALM), a tube-launched system designed for deployment on infantry fighting vehicles used by mechanised infantry.
