New Delhi: During the Second World War, Japan had a special unit in its Special Attack Units called the Kamikaze comprising military aviators. The Kamikaze pilots flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of the War, intending to destroy warships more effectively than with conventional air attacks. About 3,800 Kamikaze pilots died during the war and more than 7,000 naval personnel were killed by Kamikaze attacks.
In the 21st century, India has now developed its own mostly indigenously developed Kamikaze aerial weaponry. It is an aerial drone called Nagastra-1. No pilot has to die when the Nagastra-1 is in motion and is delivering an attack. Manufactured by the Nagpur-based Solar Industries, the Nagastra-1 can carry a one-kg warhead and carry out a precision strike via GPS with an accuracy of within two metres. It is called a loitering munitions weapon due to its ability to hover over the target and then crash against it. The first batch of 120 such drone attacks has been delivered to the Indian Army.
Solar Industries is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Economic Explosives Limited (EEL) to whom the Indian Army had placed an order for 420 loitering munitions.
What are loitering munitions?
A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, Kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a kind of aerial weapon with a built-in warhead that is typically designed to loiter around a target area until a target is located, then attack the target by crashing into it. Loitering munitions enable faster reaction times against hidden targets that emerge for short periods without placing high-value platforms near the target area and also allow more selective targeting as the attack can be changed mid-flight or aborted.
Loitering munitions fit in the niche between cruise missiles and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs or combat drones), sharing characteristics with both. They differ from cruise missiles in that they are designed to loiter for a relatively long time around the target area, and from unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) in that a loitering munition is intended to be expended in an attack and has a built-in warhead.
Loitering munitions can be launched from various platforms, including ground vehicles, aircraft, ships, or even by hand in smaller versions. After launch, the munition can loiter over a predefined area for extended periods, waiting for the target to appear or for the operator to designate a target.
Using onboard sensors, operators or autonomous algorithms identify and track potential targets. Once a target is designated, the munition transitions to a high-speed dive to destroy the target with its onboard warhead.
There are three types of loitering munitions – short-range, medium-range and long-range.
Short-range munitions usually have a range of up to 10-20 km and are designed for tactical operations. A medium-range loitering munition can operate at distances up to 100 km, offering a balance between range and loitering time.
A long-range loitering munition is capable of striking targets hundreds of kilometres away and loitering for several hours
Is India the only country to have developed such loitering munitions?
No loitering weapons first emerged in the 1980s for use in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) role against surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and were deployed in that role with several military forces in the 1990s. Starting in the 2000s, loitering weapons were developed for additional roles ranging from relatively long-range strikes and fire support down to tactical, very short-range battlefield systems that fit in a backpack.
Initially, loitering munitions were not referred to as such, but rather as ‘suicide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)' or ‘loitering missiles’. Different sources point at different projects as originating the weapon category. The failed US AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow programme or the 1980s initial Israeli Delilah variants are mentioned by some sources. The Iranian Ababil-1 was produced in the 1980s, but its exact production date is unknown. The Israeli IAI Harpy was produced in the late 1980s.
Apart from the IAI Harpy, Israel has another suicide drone called the IAI Harop. The IAI Harpy is a loitering munition missile produced by Israel Aerospace Industries. The Harpy is designed to attack radar systems and is optimised for the SEAD role. It carries a high explosive warhead. The Harpy has been sold to several foreign nations, including South Korea, India and China.
The IAI Harop has a loitering time of six hours and a range of 200 km both ways. It is a larger version of the IAI Harpy and is launched from ground or sea-based canisters, but can be adapted for air launch. The Harop uses a man-in-the-loop mode and is controlled by a remote operator. The Harop operator can select static or moving targets detected by the aircraft’s electro-optical sensor.
What are the capabilities of the Nagastra-1?
The Nagastra-1 is a symbol of the Made in India programme of the Defence Ministry. It is a fixed-wing loitering munition powered by two electric motors. It can be controlled by an operator within a 15-km range and has a maximum flight distance of 30 km. The drone can strike a fixed target based on preloaded grid coordinates, guided by GPS, ensuring an accuracy within two km of the target. If it fails to locate a target, it can be safely recovered using its built-in parachute for a soft landing.
However, it needs to be mentioned here that the Nagastra-1 is not the first such suicide drone that the Indian defence forces have. According to an article in SP’s Aviation written by Lt Gen (Retd) PC Katoch in May 2023, the Indian Air Force has in its hand the ALS-50 Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) loitering munitions, made by Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL). Israel has also supplied the IAI Harpy and IAI Harpo to the Indian defence forces. But what is unique about Nagastra-1 is that it is the first majorly indigenously developed Kamikaze drone to be delivered to the Indian Army.
Read more:Indian Army Inducts Indigenous Nagastra-1 Suicide Drone into Its Arsenal
