Ghatak Combat Drone Project: India’s Ghatak combat drone project is now at a very important point. The aircraft is being built as a stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicle, which means it is a fighting drone that can fly without a pilot inside and is meant to be harder to detect. Recent reports say the project is getting closer to the next big decision stage.
One such report said the full-size 13-ton prototype could get top-level government approval by 2027, but that part has not been officially confirmed in a public government statement yet. What is confirmed is that the programme has been moving ahead, and the Ghatak project got a boost after the Defence Procurement Board cleared its development phase earlier in March 2026.
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Kaveri engine
Ghatak is expected to use the dry version of the Kaveri engine, which is the non-afterburning version. Public reporting in March 2026 said this engine is central to the programme and that the drone is planned around an Indian-made powerplant, not a foreign one.
A report from idrw.org says the Ministry of Defence wants GTRE to finish Dry Kaveri certification by late 2026, and that this is necessary before the project can move to the next major approval stage. That same report also says the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase may need about ₹5,000 crore.
Work on Design and Testing
Even with those open questions, the technical side of the programme has been moving forward. DRDO has already tested the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator, also called SWiFT. In July 2022, DRDO carried out its maiden flight, and in December 2023 it announced another successful trial of the tailless flying-wing demonstrator, reported IDRW. These tests were important because they helped prove things like autonomous flight, take-off and landing, and control of the flying-wing shape. That matters because Ghatak is expected to use a stealthy flying-wing design too.
Reports also say the lessons learned from SWiFT are being fed into Ghatak’s final design. The report you shared says this includes flight control work for the tailless layout and a 2-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzle to reduce infrared signature and improve movement.
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Importance of this Drone for India
Ghatak is important because India wants a stealth strike drone that can go into dangerous airspace without putting a pilot at risk. Business Standard reported that 60 units are planned under the current push, while the Ministry of Defence’s Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap 2025 points to future demand for stealth UCAVs, including up to 100 for the Indian Air Force and up to 50 for the Indian Army. That shows unmanned combat aircraft are becoming a serious part of India’s long-term military planning.
The longer-term idea is even bigger. The report you shared says Ghatak may one day work with aircraft like AMCA, Tejas MkII and Su-30MKI in manned-unmanned teaming missions. It also says the Indian Air Force may want at least 150 of these systems.
