Loiter Munitions: The Kamikaze Drones Reshaping India’s Army

A missile flies to one place and explodes. A camera drone flies around and only watches. A loiter munition does both jobs in one machine. It waits in the air, finds a target, and then hits it.

Think of a hawk over a field. The hawk circles first. It strikes only when it spots its prey. A loiter munition works the same way.

1.1 What does “loiter” mean?

To loiter is to hang around a place without leaving. A loiter munition is an armed drone that stays over an area for a while. It looks for a target. Then it attacks.

The Ministry of Defence describes these systems as ones that can stay airborne over designated areas for long periods. They identify and acquire information on targets before the strike, when needed.

Many people call them kamikaze drones or suicide drones. The name fits because the drone carries its own warhead and crashes into the target.

1.2 How is it different from a missile or a camera drone?

IANS adds one more point. The attack can be changed in mid-flight or even aborted. If the mission is aborted, the Nagastra-1 can be called back. It makes a soft landing with a parachute and can be used again.

Why does that matter? A missile cannot be called back. A loiter munition gives the commander a second chance to decide.

Common mistake: a loiter munition is not a surveillance drone with a bomb stuck on. It is built to be used once, as the weapon itself.

India has moved from buying these weapons to making them. Two names stand out: Nagastra-1 and Sheshnaag-150.

2.1 What is Nagastra-1?

Nagastra-1 is India’s first indigenous loiter munition for the Army. It was developed by Nagpur-based Solar Industries. Its subsidiary, Economic Explosives Limited (EEL), built it.

• The order: the Army ordered 480 loiter munitions under an emergency purchase.
• Pre-delivery inspection: 20 to 25 May 2024.
• First batch: 120 units, delivered to the Ammunition Depot at Pulgaon in June 2024.
• Weight: about 9 kg. It is a man-portable, fixed-wing, electric drone.
• Endurance: 30 minutes.
• Range: 15 km with a human in the loop, and 30 km in autonomous mode.
• Accuracy: about 2 metres, using GPS.

Why electric? An electric motor makes little noise. That makes the drone hard to hear from the ground.

Common mistake: the 480 is the whole order. The first batch was only 120.

2.2 What is Sheshnaag-150?

Sheshnaag-150 is a much bigger machine. A Bengaluru startup, NewSpace Research and Technologies (NRT), is building it. It is a long-range attack drone built for coordinated swarm strikes.

• Design range: more than 1,000 km.
• Endurance: over 5 hours.
• Warhead: it can carry 25 to 40 kg.
• First flight: shown at Aero India 2025 in Bengaluru.
• Development: NRT was building it on its own, to pitch to the Army, Air Force and Navy.

A report of 15 April 2026 says the Indian armed forces tested it at the Pokhran range. It reportedly flew 720 km and hit its target with an error of under 10 metres. Treat this as a single-outlet report. It is not an official statement.

Is it in service? No source I opened says the forces have bought it.

3.1 When did loiter munitions first fight?

The Tribune writes that Operation Sindoor in May 2025 was the combat debut of loitering munitions for India. It says they were ordered in 2021 and made in India.

The same report says Israeli-origin Harop drones, now built locally, were used against air-defence sites in Karachi and Lahore. India has not published a full list of targets, so treat the details as press reports.

What is an air-defence site? It is a radar or missile unit that guards the sky. Hitting it first lets later aircraft fly in with less risk.

3.2 How did the Army reorganise?

On 26 July 2025, at the Kargil Vijay Diwas event in Dras, the Army Chief spoke about the Army’s changes. He named these new formations:

• Rudra all-arms brigades.
• Bhairav light commando battalions.
• Shaktibaan artillery regiments.
• Divyastra batteries.
• Drone-equipped infantry battalions.
• Indigenous air defence systems.

What is a battery? It is a small unit inside an artillery regiment. A regiment holds several batteries.

4.1 What is the Rs 1,577 crore contract?

On 14 August 2026, the Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth Rs 1,577 crore. The firms are Tata Advanced Systems Limited and NIBE Private Limited. The Defence Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, was present in New Delhi.

The purchase is for loiter munition systems for the Indian Army. They are meant to build up the Artillery Regiments. The Ministry said the buy supports a self-reliant India.

Swarajya adds three details. The buy was under the Buy (Indian) category. It used the fast-track procedure. The Army opened a tender in July 2026 for 840 loiter munitions. The range sought is above 100 km. Swarajya’s split of orders is its own estimate, so we leave it out.

Common mistake: this is a purchase, not a new weapon. The contract is about numbers and speed, not about a first-ever system.

4.2 How big is India’s drone base?

PIB’s backgrounder of 17 February 2026 gives the wider picture. As of 9 February 2026, 38,575 drones had a Unique Identification Number. The DGCA had issued 39,890 Remote Pilot Certificates. 244 Remote Pilot Training Organisations were approved.

Most of these drones are civilian. They show how large the drone industry has grown. Military loiter munitions are a small, special part of it.

4.3 What should you remember?

• A loiter munition hovers, finds a target, then strikes.
• Nagastra-1 is India’s first indigenous one: 9 kg, 30 minutes, order of 480.
• Sheshnaag-150 is a long-range attack drone, still in trials.
• The combat debut came in May 2025 (Operation Sindoor).
• On 14 August 2026, Rs 1,577 crore went to Tata Advanced Systems and NIBE.