India's IG Defence flies indigenous 1,000-km loitering strike drone from mobile launch

IG Defence, a defence-technology company headquartered in Noida, carried out a successful flight test of its indigenous long-range loitering drone, named KAL, from a road-mobile launch platform at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan. The trial validated the drone’s airframe, propulsion, avionics, navigation and mission architecture, confirming a one-way strike capability with a range of up to 1,000 km, endurance of seven to eight hours, a payload capacity of 50 kg and an operating ceiling of 5,000 m. KAL relies on a combined multi-band GNSS and inertial navigation system for autonomous flight and can be tasked against strategic targets such as radar installations and air-defence systems.

The vehicle-mounted launch design allows deployment from dispersed locations, enhancing operational flexibility. CEO Bodhisattwa Sanghapriya highlighted the relevance of such platforms after recent conflicts demonstrated the value of low-cost, long-range unmanned strike systems, and noted that the drone is ready for export, with several Gulf nations expressing interest. The platform can be linked to the company’s AI-driven GRID battle-management architecture, underscoring India’s push for sovereign defence capabilities.