Solar Defence and Aerospace has delivered 450 Nagastra-1R loitering munitions to the Indian Army, completing a Rs 158 crore order placed in June 2025.

Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited, or SDAL, is a subsidiary of Nagpur-based Solar Industries India.

This week, the company said it had handed over all 450 units in a single batch, which it describes as the largest one-time supply of its kind to the Army by any manufacturer.

A loitering munition is an unmanned aircraft that stays in the air over an area until a target shows up, then strikes. It works like a cross between a surveillance drone and a missile.

The Nagastra-1R is built for short-range missions. It has day-and-night surveillance, GPS-guided navigation and a reusable launcher.

It can also be brought back. If an operator decides not to strike, the system can be recovered instead of being lost.

The order dates to June 2025. The Army placed it for about Rs 158 crore under its emergency purchase route, after trials in March 2025 that involved four companies.

According to SDAL, it was the only company that met every operating requirement in those trials.

The system carries more than 80% indigenous content, up from more than 75% in the earlier Nagastra-1. Indigenous content simply means the share of parts and value made in India.

This is not the first big supply. Solar Industries finished an earlier order for 480 Nagastra-1 units by December 2024.

Still, some details are missing. The company has not said when the full batch will be deployed, and the Army has not commented on the delivery.

A much bigger deal followed in August. The defence ministry signed contracts worth about Rs 1,577 crore with Tata Advanced Systems and NIBE for loitering munition systems for the Army’s artillery regiments, using a fast-track route for Indian-made equipment.

It also fits the government’s push to make more of these weapons in India instead of importing them.

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