Indian Army orders 840 one-way attack drones worth Rs 1,577 crore

The Ministry of Defence signed two contracts on Friday, 14 August 2026, worth Rs 1,577 crore with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) and Nibe Pvt Ltd for loitering munitions — one-way attack drones — and associated equipment for the Indian Army. The procurement covers 840 long-range attack drones capable of striking targets at a range exceeding 100 km and operating in environments with dense electronic jamming and GPS spoofing. Tata Advanced Systems will supply 64% of the order (approximately 538 units) and Nibe the remaining 36% (approximately 302 units). The systems are being procured under the Buy Indian (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) category through a fast-track procedure, with delivery expected within 12 months of contract signing.

This is the first major order for drones placed under the fast-track procurement procedure, which enables the armed forces to begin receiving supplies within six months of contract signing. The drones were designed to be resistant to jamming and spoofing from takeoff, incorporating lessons learnt during Operation Sindoor. Extensive trials were conducted in deliberately degraded electronic environments, including jamming conditions from the point of launch. The systems are intended to take down enemy artillery positions deep across the border, a role that loitering munitions have proven decisive in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and the West Asia campaigns.

The strategic significance lies in the shift from procurement to volume induction. The Indian Army's Technology Roadmap for Unmanned Aerial Systems and Loitering Munitions, unveiled in April 2026, identifies a requirement spanning 80 different types of unmanned systems across roles including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, precision strikes, munition dropping, air defence, jamming, mine warfare, data relay and logistics. The army plans to induct tens of thousands of locally made unmanned aerial systems and loitering munitions over the next five years. This Rs 1,577 crore order is the first concrete step in that volume build-up — the test will be whether subsequent orders follow at the same pace and whether the domestic industrial base can scale to meet the roadmap targets.

The opportunity for defence MSMEs is direct: the split between Tata and Nibe indicates that the government is deliberately cultivating a second and third tier of domestic loitering munition manufacturers rather than concentrating the entire order with a single large prime. Watch for follow-on contracts under the same fast-track procedure, particularly for systems with ranges exceeding 1,500 km that the army is reported to be evaluating.