Indian Navy Shortlists Bengaluru-Based Startup To Develop 'Loyal Wingman' Drone, Abhimanyu

Mumbai: The Indian Navy has shortlisted a Bengaluru-based startup firm, NewSpace Research and Technologies (NRT), to develop a future Naval Collaborative Combat Air Vehicle (N-CCAV) jet-powered drone “loyal wingman” Abhimanyu.

About The 'Loyal Wingman' Concept

The “Loyal Wingman” is a novel concept in military aviation wherein unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), autonomous and semi-autonomous drones flying in tandem with piloted aircraft for combat and support tasks. The stealth drone are meant to fly ahead of fighter jets and use its sensors to detect threats to share intelligence in real-time for precision attacks. 

“The jet-powered, low-observable designed loyal wingman Abhimanyu will operate alongside India’s MiG fighter jets and future naval variant Rafale fighter jets,” confirmed a senior naval commander. 

The stealth drone Abhimanyu is much smaller than a twin-engine drone HAL Warrior being developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force’s Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) program.

The Indian Navy plans a fleet of Abhimanyu drones with enhance situational awareness, and extend sensor reach to provide tactical flexibility for the two aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya based operations along with onshore deployment for additional support in naval missions. Another variant of a new line of smaller kamikaze drones with swarming capabilities Sheehnaag is also being considered to enhance the operational capabilities of the Indian Navy. 

The drone designed for stealth and high-speed operations incorporates several features to reduce radar detection for combat missions with the existing fleet of fighter jets. 

NRT Officials On The New Age Future-Ready Drones

According to NRT officials, the new age future-ready drones integrates Artificial Intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) technology to leverage drone-swarming technologies. 

While some naval aviators were skeptical about the Abhimanyu drones for combat mission deployment citing slower and shorter-range than existing loyal wingman drones, the startup NRT was confident the new drones would be cost-effective to provide valuable tactical advantages in planned operations. 

“The tech specification of Abhimanyu drones is compact with swept wings, horizontal stabilizers, and a single vertical tail. The narrow air intakes positioned along the rear fuselage, continuous chine-line wrapping around the fuselage to minimise radar reflections, and Trapezoidal main landing gear doors of stealth aircrafts make it an ideal loyal wingman for Indian Navy,” claimed a NRT official. 

The stealth drones is equipped to provide Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Electronic Warfare (EW) for jamming enemy radars and sensors, Strike Missions with precision-guided weapons to neutralise naval or land-based threats, act as a Missile Carrier to carry extra air-to-air missiles for MiG-29Ks and increasing the strike capacity of manned fighters and deployed for Decoy Operations to mimic the radar signature of manned jets to mislead enemy defences.