Indian Army's 540 jet-powered kamikaze drone plan draws 11 local companies

Indian defence companies are lining up to supply the Army's requirement for 540 high-speed jet-powered kamikaze drones, a programme idrw.org estimates at 2,000 crore rupees, with 11 Indian firms in the race. The drones are expected to reach speeds of around 450 km/h.

The headline figure works out near 3.7 crore rupees per unit, well above quoted estimates of $50,000-70,000 for Russia's Geran-4. But the 2,000 crore may also cover development, testing, control stations, launch facilities, training, spares and initial production, so the per-drone price cannot be read straight from it.

India is not starting cold: SMPP says it has already delivered 106 turbojet-powered Peacekeeper (Agniveg) drones to the Army, including 100 operational ones, with a claimed top speed of 450 km/h and a range of about 180 km. The new competition would widen the supplier base and let the Army test different designs.

Jet-powered kamikaze drones are a different category from propeller-driven loitering munitions: their speed leaves defenders less time to spot, track and engage them, suiting them to fast-moving targets, air defence systems and command posts.