Moving slowly towards the indigenization of ammunition and defense systems, the Indian army is set to buy the first domestic loiter ammunition, Nagastra-1, which is manufactured by Nagpur’s Solar Industries.
This portable fixed electric drone weighs 9 kg and boasts of an endurance of 30 minutes. It possesses the range of 15 km with in-loop control, which can go up to 30 km in auto mode.
Aided by its electric propulsion system, Nagastra-1 comes with minimal noise level, thus making it invisible at 200 meters altitude.
This drone also contains day and night surveillance cameras and has the weight to carry 1kg high explosive fragmented payload.
Hence, having the precision to effectively disable a target with a soft exterior. Made jointly with Bengaluru’s Z-Motion Autonomous Systems Pvt Ltd, the UAV Nagastra-1 has 75% domestic content.
It comes with the total weight of 30 kilograms distributed between two backpacks, which includes a ground control station, communication control, payload, and pneumatic launcher. What’s sets it apart from other drones, that it has the ability to abort, recover and reuse, which is handled by its Parachute retrieval system.
Currently, the army has also asked for 480 loiter ammunitions from solar industries subsidiary Economics Explosives Ltd (EEL). After its pre-delivery inspection, EEL has so far 120 units at weapons depot at Pulgaon.
The successful deal of Nagastra reflects, that domestic industry of weapons especially of drones is slowly growing in India. This advancement possesses the capability to bolster India’s untapped drone industry.