NEW DELHI: To boost India's underwater military capabilities, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has decided to develop a first-of-its-kind underwater- launched unmanned aerial vehicles (ULUAVs), with help from a Pune-based defence startup, that will be launched from a submarine.
DRDO's TNF has awarded the technology development contract for ULUAVs to Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt Ltd after selecting it out of the 17 firms through a competitive bidding process.

DRDO's Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) will assist Sagar Defence, which had earlier developed a maritime spotter drone for the Indian Navy, in ULUAV technology development. The agreement with Sagar Defence was signed in the presence of DRDL director Dr G AS Murthy and Indian Navy officials.

A ULUAV will have the capability to be deployed quickly, safely and autonomously from a moving submarine. It will have high endurance and long range, giving it a huge surprise element advantage. It will enable discreet surveillance missions, allowing submarines to monitor potential threats without revealing their presence.

Mridul Babbar, director & vice-president of business development, Sagar Defence, told TΟΙ, "This ULUAV technology is going to be highly advanced.
Only a few countries in the world possess ULUAVs but they are not highly advanced. Like the US ULUAV has a range of 7 km and its endurance is for 30 minutes. However, DRDO has entrusted us to develop a ULUAV that will have a longer endurance of more than one hour and will have a range of over 20 km. And we are the first to develop this technology in India. This ULUAV will be for maritime and underwater domain awareness and will be used for data gathering."
This will be expandable and in future, weapons can also be installed on it, he added.

The project signifies Modi govt's proactive approach to fostering indigenous innovation and technological advancement.

Sagar CEO Captain Nikunj Parashar said, "This contract not only underscores the trust and confidence that DRDO has in our capabilities but also serves as a testament to the strides we are making in defence innovation."
By harnessing the capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles in underwater environments, the defence industry stands to gain a decisive edge in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, enhancing situational awareness and operational effectiveness across the maritime domain.