Solar Defence And Aerospace Ltd. (SDAL), based in Nagpur, has commenced deliveries of its indigenous Nagastra-2 anti-tank loiter munition system to the Indian Army, marking another milestone in India's drive to strengthen domestic defence manufacturing and enhance the Army's precision-strike capabilities.

The Nagastra-2 has been developed as an advanced loitering munition capable of combining surveillance and strike functions within a single platform. The system is fitted with day-and-night surveillance cameras and carries a 4 kg tandem shaped-charge warhead designed to penetrate armour protection of up to 650 mm of Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA), enabling it to engage a wide range of armoured battlefield targets.

According to the company, the munition offers an operational range of 25 km in recover-and-reuse mode and up to 50 km in fire-and-forget mode. With an endurance of up to 60 minutes, the system can remain airborne while searching for targets before conducting precision engagements, providing greater flexibility to field commanders.

One of the most significant technological features of Nagastra-2 is its Electronic Counter-Countermeasures (ECCM) capability.

The feature has been designed to improve survivability and mission effectiveness in electronically contested environments by helping the system withstand communication jamming, GPS jamming and spoofing attempts commonly encountered in modern warfare.

Solar Defence stated that Nagastra-2 successfully completed Technical Trials at the Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR) in August 2026. During the trials, users reportedly witnessed all operational and ECCM compliance parameters, clearing the way for induction and deliveries to the Army.

The induction of Nagastra-2 builds upon the Army's earlier procurement of indigenous loitering munitions from SDAL. In 2025, the service placed an order for around 450 Nagastra-1R loitering munitions, reflecting growing confidence in domestically developed precision-strike systems.

The Nagastra-1R was developed as a cost-effective loitering munition featuring fully reusable launcher systems. It is equipped with a 360-degree gimbal camera and can be fitted with a thermal imaging payload for night operations.

The system also incorporates proprietary encryption for both video and telemetry links and delivers high-precision targeting with a circular error probable (CEP) of approximately two metres. More than 80 per cent of the system's content is indigenous.

The Nagastra family has undergone testing in a variety of operational environments, including Ladakh and Babina near Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, demonstrating performance across diverse climatic and terrain conditions.

The delivery of Nagastra-2 not only strengthens the Indian Army's anti-armour and precision-strike capabilities but also reinforces India's broader self-reliance objectives in advanced defence technologies.

As battlefield requirements increasingly demand long-range, networked and electronically resilient unmanned systems, the induction of Nagastra-2 represents a significant addition to the Army's indigenous loitering munition inventory.

ANI