DRDO successfully tests Advanced UAV-launched Precision Guided Missile-V3

New Delhi, July 25. In a significant step towards strengthening India’s defence capabilities, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted flight trials of the Advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM)-V3 at the National Open Area Range (NOAR) in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. The latest version is an upgraded variant of the ULPGM-V2 missile developed earlier by DRDO.

The ULPGM-V3 features a high-definition dual-channel seeker capable of engaging a wide range of targets in diverse terrains, including high-altitude regions. It offers day-and-night operational capability and a two-way data link, enabling post-launch target or aim-point updates. The missile is designed with three modular warhead configurations – an anti-armour warhead to neutralise modern armoured vehicles equipped with Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA) and Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA), a penetration-cum-blast warhead for bunker-busting, and a pre-fragmentation warhead for high-lethality impact zones.

The current trials focused on the anti-armour configuration of the missile. It was launched from an indigenously developed UAV built by Bengaluru-based start-up Newspace Research Technologies. DRDO is also collaborating with other Indian companies to integrate the ULPGM system with long-range, high-endurance UAVs.

The missile’s development is the result of a collaborative effort involving several DRDO laboratories, including the Research Centre Imarat, Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, High-Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Integrated Test Range, and Defence Electronics Research Laboratory. Industry partners such as Adani Defence, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in Hyderabad, along with 30 MSMEs and start-ups, played a key role in the project.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, its industry partners, and start-ups for the achievement, calling it a testament to the Indian defence industry’s growing capability to absorb and manufacture critical technologies.

Samir V Kamat, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of DRDO, lauded the success, emphasising that the development of advanced precision-guided weapons like the ULPGM-V3 is critical to addressing contemporary battlefield challenges.