Defence Ministry Indigenous Bomb for IAF: India has started moving ahead on a plan to build a heavy aerial bomb at home for the IAF. This bomb will be in the 1,000-kg class and will be similar to the Mk-84 type. The main idea behind this project is to help India depend less on foreign defence companies and make more military equipment inside the country. Officials said the Defence Ministry has already begun the process for this work, and the project is being pushed as part of India’s self-reliance drive.
The Ministry of Defence has “issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) for design, development and procurement of 1,000-kg aerial bombs (akin to Mk-84) along with tail units and associated equipment under the provisions of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020”, the official said. The official Make in India Defence portal also shows that the EoI for the 1,000-kg aerial bomb under Make-II has been uploaded, with the last date for submission listed as May 25, 2026.
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Right now, bombs in this class are bought from foreign original equipment manufacturers and are already being used by the IAF. Officials said the new system is meant to work on different kinds of fighter aircraft already flown by the IAF. The system is intended to be “compatible with both Russian and Western-origin aircraft” currently operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), a senior official said.
How the Project will move?
The full project has been split into two parts. In the first part, selected Indian companies or agencies will design and build six prototype bombs. These will include both live and inert versions. They will also make the tail units and other related equipment needed for the system. After that, the next part will begin.
This second stage will be about buying the bomb in larger numbers through the normal commercial process. Officials said the second phase will start after a commercial Request for Proposal is issued to the agencies that qualify during development.
The project is being taken up under the ‘Make-II’ category, which means the industry will fund the development work. After that, procurement will happen under the ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ route. IDDM means Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured. Reports say 600 of these bombs are planned to be bought under this category.
Officials also explained what kind of weapon this will be. The bomb is being described as a “natural fragmentation, high-calibre munition capable of generating high blast effect and significant peak over-pressure (PoP) against enemy targets”, they said.
It is meant to be a very powerful bomb that can create a strong blast and heavy damage against enemy positions. The first development stage will also include single-stage composite trials, also called SSCT. After these tests, the early requirements called PSQRs will later be turned into final air staff requirements, or ASQRs.
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What India wants from Companies?
The government wants this project to have strong Indian content from the start. The development phase must reach at least 50% indigenous content. This means at least half of the work, parts, and value must come from India. Officials said the full timeline from the issue of the EoI to the signing of the contract is expected to be about 2.5 years.
This period will cover prototype making, user trials, evaluation, commercial steps, and then final contract work. The trials will happen in India at IAF units or other locations chosen for testing. The bomb will also be tested on a specific IAF aircraft platform.
The project is open to Indian companies that meet the rules. Private firms can also take part. Foreign collaboration is allowed too, but only under fixed conditions like joint ventures, transfer of technology, or commercial off-the-shelf arrangements. Even then, the companies taking part must clearly show that the design and manufacturing still meet the Indian requirements. Officials said the responses will be judged on both financial and technical grounds under the Defence Acquisition Procedure.
