A stealth fighter drone, when ready
It weighs about 13 tonnes and its USP is that it will carry precision-guided munitions with warheads
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 "Satarupa Bhattacharjya")
 "Ghatak, an advanced unmanned combat aerial vehicle (Photo: DRDO)")
Ghatak, an advanced unmanned combat aerial vehicle (Photo: DRDO)
India is developing an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), named Ghatak (“lethal”), which is thought to be among its most advanced domestically built modern-war platforms. The Indian Air Force (IAF) would be the first user of the UCAV that has been designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Through a technology demonstrator — the stealth wing flying testbed — the DRDO checked the high-speed drone’s aerodynamics, as well as its control and stealth features in flight mode. The flight test was successful in 2022. The UCAV is expected to be autonomous with elements of human intervention.
The Ghatak prototype weighs about 13 tonnes, lighter than a fighter jet, but larger than many other UCAVs. It is powered by a turbofan engine, which would be a dry variant of the indigenous Kaveri engine in the future, a former official told the media earlier. The UCAV will carry precision-guided munitions with warheads in its weapons bay. It would fly above 30,000 feet.
The DRDO is understood to have done the high-altitude engine testing in Russia. India does not have such a facility. It is unclear what stage of development the UCAV currently is.
R K Narang, a former IAF helicopter pilot and now military academic who has studied drones, said the DRDO has got the flying configuration right, and it should ensure that the UCAV’s development is aligned with the requirements of the users. The Ghatak (when ready) will boost the IAF’s capability, owing to its low radar cross-section area and deep-strike ability.
 "A drone flies over a neighborhood in Houston, Texas")
“As militaries around the world move to versatile platforms, India’s UCAV project should include a Naval variant other than for the Air Force,” Narang said.
But the project seems to be a low-key effort with funding issues at this time, he said, adding that the development of a full-scale Ghatak is yet to be approved.
In 2016, the sanctioned cost to design the Ghatak and develop “critical advanced technologies” for it and the advanced medium combat aircraft programme (the country’s attempt to make a fifth-generation fighter jet that has a different overall budget) was ₹231 crore ($25.74 million), as per a 2017 government statement. By comparison, the Akash-NG (“new generation”) missile system received ₹470 crore.
Biju Uthup, former project director, Ghatak, wrote in an article for Livefist, a defence website, in 2024, the lab that initially worked on it (he did, too) should have continued after the successful completion of the conceptual and feasibility study, and the ongoing preliminary design stage.
The DRDO has transferred the project to another internal lab.
Written By
Satarupa Bhattacharjya
Satarupa Bhattacharjya is a journalist with 25 years of work experience in India, China and Sri Lanka. She covered politics, government and policy in the past. Now, she writes on defence and geopolitics.
 "Satarupa Bhattacharjya")
First Published: Jan 10 2026 | 2:45 AM IST
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