Kolkata: Sourya Chowdhury, a 20-year-old New Town resident and BITS Pilani student in Hyderabad, who co-developed a radar-proof kamikaze drone now acquired by multiple regiments of the Indian Army, is in Kolkata to present the indigenous combat drone to an Eastern Command unit near the Indo-Bangla border. The St Xavier’s Collegiate School alumnus said this is a different homecoming as he has returned to Bengal not for vacation, but to expand his defence venture.“It’s a different homecoming this time when I hardly had time to spend with my family. I went for a presentation at a unit of Eastern Command for the indigenous drones on Tuesday and have more related work in the coming days, following which I will go back to my institute. It’s a different feeling altogether, to develop something on my own and to serve the nation,” said Chowdhury.TOI had reported on Tuesday how Chowdhury, along with his classmate from Rajasthan’s Ajmer, Jayant Khatri, stunned India’s defence circles by building and selling cutting-edge UAVs to Army units across Jammu, Haryana, Bengal’s Panagarh, and Arunachal Pradesh, all within two months of launching their start-up, Apollyon Dynamics.The idea for the drone came in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s military response through Operation Sindoor. Moved by the developments, Chowdhury and Khatri began assembling their first prototype inside a hostel room using readily available parts.“Both of us were interested in robotics since our school days. As we were seeing the visuals on TV and reading news of India’s counter-attack, we thought of trying to make a drone that would cut down our nation’s dependency on imported drones,” said Chowdhury. “We worked on the same, built a successful prototype with off-the-shelf parts, and then pitched them before the Indian Army.”Initial outreach to the Army through emails and LinkedIn messages yielded little response, but they were eventually invited to make a presentation in Haryana. That opportunity opened doors to multiple orders and further demonstrations across the country. Currently, the duo has active orders from four different regiments of the Indian Army across the country. While they are currently operating from a lab offered to them by the institute authorities, they plan to move out soon and rent an office in north India to upscale their production.The team, now comprising six second-year students, is developing advanced vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones and fixed-wing platforms aimed at enhancing operational versatility. They also conduct practical training sessions for military personnel, including those without any previous flight experience.Chowdhury, who is currently pursuing a dual degree of Bachelors in Engineering in Electronics and MSc in Physics, said while he will graduate in 2028, he is focused on building his start-up parallelly while continuing his studies.
