Indian Navy seeks ship-launched loitering munitions with 1,000-km range

New Delhi, August 13. The Indian Navy has initiated the process to acquire a new class of ship-launched medium-range loitering munitions, popularly described as “kamikaze drones”, capable of conducting long-range surveillance and precision strikes against both maritime and land targets.

According to media reports, the Ministry of Defence has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for the system, marking the first step towards a potential procurement that would add a new sea-based loitering-strike capability to Indian warships.

Loitering munitions combine the functions of a surveillance drone and a precision-guided weapon. Launched from a naval platform, the system can fly towards a designated area, remain airborne while searching for targets and subsequently dive onto a selected target with its onboard warhead.

According to the broad specifications outlined in the RFI, the Navy is looking for a system with a minimum range of 1,000 km and an endurance of at least nine hours. It should have a cruising speed exceeding 75 knots and be capable of reaching more than 200 knots during its terminal attack. The system is also required to operate at altitudes of up to 15,000 feet and have a low radar cross-section to enhance survivability.

The proposed munition is to be equipped with an electro-optical and infrared seeker, combining forward-looking infrared imaging with a daylight camera. This sensor suite would enable navigation, surveillance and target identification during both day and night operations. A forward-mounted warhead would be used for the terminal strike.

The requirements also place considerable emphasis on autonomous operation and resilience against electronic warfare. The system should be capable of navigating autonomously between pre-programmed coordinates and, in the event of a loss of communication with its control station, automatically return towards the last known location of the control terminal.

If communications cannot be restored, the munition would be required to divert to a pre-designated safe termination point. Such a mechanism is intended to prevent a weapon that has lost its control link from continuing towards an unintended target or populated area.

The Navy is seeking a system capable of engaging both maritime and land-based targets, giving the weapon a potentially wide range of applications in naval operations.

Another notable requirement is the ability to transfer control of a munition already in flight between different ships or stations. This would allow one warship to launch the weapon while another ship, or a shore-based command unit, assumes control and uses its own sensors and operators to guide the munition towards the target.

The move reflects a wider trend among militaries towards integrating loitering munitions into conventional combat operations. Their use in recent conflicts, particularly in Ukraine, has demonstrated the ability of relatively inexpensive unmanned systems to conduct surveillance and precision attacks while imposing fewer risks on personnel than manned aircraft.

For navies, ship-launched loitering munitions offer the additional advantage of providing a long-range, flexible strike capability that can be redirected against emerging targets without having to deploy a manned aircraft or expend a significantly more expensive cruise missile.

The proposed capability could consequently give Indian warships greater flexibility in conducting operations over large maritime areas, particularly when combined with the sensors and surveillance systems of other ships, aircraft, satellites and shore-based assets.

The procurement is expected to follow India’s Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP), with the RFI identifying domestic procurement categories such as Buy (Indian-IDDM), Buy (Indian) and Buy & Make (Indian). The emphasis on these categories is consistent with the government’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-reliant India) initiative and its effort to expand indigenous defence manufacturing and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.

The proposed acquisition would thus represent not only an expansion of the Indian Navy’s unmanned warfare capabilities but also another step towards developing a networked, long-range and increasingly autonomous maritime strike architecture.