KAL one-way attack drone, designed and developed by Noida-based IG Defence, has completed a trial at the Pokhran Field Firing Range in Rajasthan, the company said on Sunday. The drone is built to fly up to 1,000 km on its own and then dive onto its target, the same kind of mission that Shahed-class drones have made familiar in recent wars.

It flew from a vehicle-mounted launch platform.


What the KAL one-way attack drone brings

IG Defence has specified a range of up to 1,000 km for KAL, with endurance of 7 to 8 hours and a payload of up to 50 kg. The aircraft can operate at up to 5,000 metres above mean sea level. A navigation suite combining multi-band GNSS with an inertial navigation system (INS) lets it fly the whole mission profile autonomously. According to the company, the trial validated the integrated airframe, propulsion, avionics, navigation and mission architecture, with the major systems developed indigenously.

The company's founder sees the trial as a step towards an Indian-owned capability rather than one more product. "For us, this is not simply about developing another drone; it is about building a sovereign Indian capability in a domain that is rapidly becoming strategically important," Bodhisattwa Sanghapriya, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of IG Defence, said.

KAL is meant for precision engagement of designated targets such as infrastructure, radar installations and air-defence systems, subject to mission configuration and operational authorisation, the company said.

The trial date and the distance flown were not given. Company-run tests rarely go into that detail before user evaluation begins.

Pokhran, in Jaisalmer district, is among the Army's main field firing ranges in the Thar Desert and a regular venue for weapons and drone trials run by the services and industry.

The Shahed template

The class came into its own in the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia has flown the Iranian-origin Shahed-136, along with its own Geran-2 version, using relatively cheap airframes to strike at long range, keep air-defence networks under steady pressure and run high-volume attack campaigns. Shahed-class drones have since turned up in the Middle East and against maritime targets in the Red Sea.

The terms one-way attack drone and loitering munition are often used interchangeably. The difference lies in the mission: a one-way attack drone is usually sent against a target fixed before launch, while a loitering munition circles over an area to find one.

Sanghapriya put the shift plainly. "The wars and conflicts of recent years have demonstrated that long-range one-way attack drones are no longer a niche capability," he said.

Built to be made in numbers

Production is the other half of the story. Recent analysis of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has tracked a rapid expansion in Shahed-type drone output, and IG Defence says KAL was designed around long range, autonomous operation, payload capability and scalable indigenous production. Sanghapriya also has export in view. "We believe India must have the ability to design, develop and manufacture such systems domestically, while creating technologies that can also serve the requirements of friendly nations," he said.

KAL one-way attack drone and the Army's long-range needs

The published figures line up closely with what the Indian Army has asked industry for. An industry questionnaire for a Long Range Loiter Munition sought a strike range of 1,000 km, and in no case less than 500 km, a warhead of at least 25 kg and an operational ceiling of 5,000 metres, with the launcher integrated on an in-service carrier vehicle. Vendors were also asked whether launch would be by VTOL, canister or rail. IG Defence has not said whether KAL will be offered against that requirement.

The Defence Acquisition Council accorded Acceptance of Necessity to Loiter Munition Systems for artillery regiments on December 29, 2025, within proposals worth about Rs 79,000 crore, according to the Ministry of Defence release issued after the meeting. The Council's sitting on July 3 this year cleared Rs 52,000 crore in proposals that included a jet-based kamikaze drone system for the Army.

Shorter-range systems are already on order. The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth Rs 1,577 crore in August with Tata Advanced Systems and NIBE for 84 loiter munition systems and 840 munitions with reach of up to 100 km.

GRID STRIKE and the wider portfolio

KAL forms part of GRID STRIKE, IG Defence's long-range precision-strike portfolio. It can be integrated with the company's GRID Battle Management System, an AI-powered C5ISRT architecture designed to coordinate unmanned platforms and battlefield information, though the company said the focus of KAL's development remains an indigenous long-range strike capability of India's own.

The Noida firm is also developing interceptor drones, FPV combat drones, autonomous UAVs, counter-UAS systems, electronic warfare, AI-enabled swarm technologies, tactical robotics and logistics drones.