SOURCE: AFI
In a landmark advancement for India’s defence and aerospace sector, Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited is preparing to inaugurate a state-of-the-art 1,250-meter-long and 25-meter-wide airstrip dedicated to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), alongside a live munition and warhead testing facility designed for Loitering Munitions and other guided munitions. This significant event, scheduled for March 30, 2025, will be presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Nagpur, Maharashtra, highlighting India’s growing prowess in indigenous defence technology.
Located at Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited’s ammunition facility in Nagpur, the newly constructed airstrip and testing range represent a leap forward in India’s capabilities for UAV development and munitions testing. The 1,250-meter runway, tailored specifically for UAVs, will support the takeoff, landing, and operational testing of unmanned systems, including Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) platforms. The accompanying live munition and warhead testing facility will enable rigorous evaluation of advanced weaponry, such as Loitering Munitions—often dubbed “kamikaze drones”—and other precision-guided munitions, ensuring their reliability and effectiveness in combat scenarios.
Prime Minister Modi’s participation in the inauguration underscores the national importance of this initiative. His visit to Nagpur, part of a broader tour of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, includes paying homage to RSS founders at Smruti Mandir and laying the foundation stone for the Madhav Netralaya Premium Centre. However, the highlight of his itinerary is the ribbon-cutting at Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited at around 12:30 PM IST, where he will formally dedicate these facilities to the nation.
Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited, a subsidiary of Solar Industries India Ltd., has emerged as a key player in India’s defence ecosystem, focusing on explosives, munitions, and now unmanned systems. The company has already made strides with its Nagastra-1 Loitering Munition, a lightweight, man-portable system capable of precision strikes with a 2-meter accuracy and a unique parachute recovery mechanism for reuse. The new facilities in Nagpur will enhance Solar’s capacity to test and refine such innovations, with higher variants like Nagastra-2 and Nagastra-3 reportedly in advanced stages of development.
The airstrip and testing range are designed to support a production capacity of up to 1,000 Loitering Munitions annually, alongside environmental qualification and performance testing. This infrastructure will also facilitate trials for larger UAVs and counter-drone systems, aligning with India’s strategic need to weaponize drones—a trend proven decisive in modern conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war and Armenia-Azerbaijan clashes. Solar Industries has committed Rs 10,000 crore over the next decade to augment these capabilities, aiming to position Nagpur as a hub for drone and munitions technology.
NOTE: AFI is a proud outsourced content creator partner of IDRW.ORG. All content created by AFI is the sole property of AFI and is protected by copyright. AFI takes copyright infringement seriously and will pursue all legal options available to protect its content.