SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has embarked on an innovative project to enhance the Indian Navy’s precision strike capabilities with the development of Air-Launched Anti-Radiation Combat Swarm Drones. Designed to be launched from the Navy’s Boeing P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, these lightweight drones promise to revolutionize naval warfare by targeting the onboard assets of adversary ships with unprecedented accuracy.
The Air-Launched Anti-Radiation (AR) Combat Swarm Drones are engineered to suppress and destroy enemy radar and electronic systems aboard naval vessels, a capability known as Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) in air warfare parlance. Unlike traditional anti-radiation missiles (ARMs) like the AGM-88 HARM, these drones operate as a swarm, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to execute coordinated, terminal-phase strikes. Weighing just 8.5 kg each, they are compact enough to be deployed in numbers from the P-8I’s internal weapons bay, offering a scalable and cost-effective alternative to heavier munitions.
The drones boast a range of 130-150 kilometers and a communication range of 220 kilometers, that are dropped using Parachutes enabling them to strike targets far beyond the horizon while maintaining real-time data links with the launch platform or naval command. Their AI-driven terminal trajectory ensures precision strikes, allowing them to home in on emitting radar sources—such as fire control radars, search radars, or communication arrays—on enemy ships, crippling their situational awareness and defensive capabilities.
The Indian Navy operates a fleet of 12 P-8I Poseidon aircraft, acquired from Boeing between 2013 and 2022, with an additional six under consideration as of 2025. These long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms are equipped with a sophisticated weapons suite, including Harpoon missiles, torpedoes, and depth charges, carried in a bomb bay and underwing hardpoints. The integration of the AR swarm drones into the P-8I’s bomb bay—capable of holding up to 5,900 kg of ordnance—expands its mission profile from ASW and surveillance to precision offensive strikes against surface combatants.
DRDO has already developed a UAV prototype for this purpose, and trials have begun to validate its launch from the P-8I. The lightweight design (8.5 kg) allows multiple drones to be carried in a single sortie, potentially deploying a swarm of 10-20 units depending on mission requirements and bay configuration. Early tests will focus on ensuring aerodynamic stability post-launch, compatibility with the aircraft’s weapons release system, and seamless communication between the swarm and the P-8I’s onboard mission systems.
Their anti-radiation role targets critical onboard assets—radars, missile guidance systems, and communication nodes—rendering enemy ships vulnerable to follow-up strikes by larger weapons like the BrahMos missile, also deployed by the Indian Navy.
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