The Defence Procurement Board (DPB) had formally approved the acquisition of sixty-seven Ghatak Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles, marking a significant milestone in India’s indigenous combat drone programme.
Each Ghatak UCAV will be a 13-ton class vehicle, designed to deliver stealth, endurance, and precision strike capabilities in contested environments. This approval underscores the government’s commitment to strengthening unmanned aerial warfare assets while ensuring self-reliance in defence technology.
The Ghatak UCAV project has been under development for several years, with the Gas Turbine Research Establishment working on the advanced Kaveri 2.0 engine to power the platform. The vehicle’s weight class places it firmly in the heavy UCAV category, enabling it to carry substantial payloads of guided munitions and advanced sensors.
Its design is tailored for deep penetration missions, electronic warfare, and suppression of enemy air defences, making it a critical force multiplier for the Indian Air Force.
The sanctioned number of sixty-seven units reflects a large-scale induction plan, ensuring that the UCAV fleet can be deployed across multiple theatres simultaneously. This scale of procurement also signals confidence in the maturity of indigenous technologies, from propulsion systems to stealth composites and avionics.
The DPB’s approval is expected to accelerate production timelines, with industry partners likely to be engaged for manufacturing and integration.
Operationally, the Ghatak UCAVs will provide India with enhanced flexibility in both offensive and defensive missions. Their ability to operate autonomously or in coordination with manned aircraft will expand the scope of network-centric warfare.
The fleet will also be vital in countering evolving threats such as advanced air defence systems and hostile UAV swarms. With the approved numbers, India is positioning itself to field one of the largest indigenous UCAV fleets in the region.
This procurement decision is not only a boost to military capability but also a strategic signal of India’s defence industrial base maturing to deliver complex combat platforms.
It aligns with the broader push for indigenous manufacturing under the “Make in India” initiative, reducing reliance on foreign suppliers and fostering domestic innovation. The Ghatak UCAV programme, with its approved scale and specifications, represents a cornerstone in India’s future aerial combat doctrine.
Agencies
