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The Ministry of Defence has signed a Rs 810.79 crore contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for 160 Satellite Smart Anti-Airfield Weapons (SAT-SAAW) and associated equipment for the Indian Air Force, in a move aimed at strengthening the IAF’s stand-off precision strike capability.
The contract, signed in New Delhi on September 23 in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, has been placed under the Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) category.
The SAT-SAAW is an air-to-ground precision-guided glide weapon designed to strike enemy airfields from a stand-off range. The weapon can be integrated with platforms including the Jaguar, Hawk and Su-30MKI fighter aircraft.
Designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the weapon will have 60 per cent indigenous content. The programme also involves indigenous development of key subsystems, including the Initial Measurement Unit, Long Impact Delay Fuse and Twin Store Carrier.
The weapon is intended to give the IAF the ability to engage critical airfield infrastructure while keeping the launching aircraft at a safer distance from the target. Its stand-off capability is particularly relevant for operations against defended airfields and other high-value targets.
Deliveries of the 160 weapons are scheduled to take place during 2027-28 and 2028-29.
The contract adds another indigenous precision-strike capability to the IAF’s growing inventory of air-launched weapons and is part of the Ministry of Defence’s continuing push to reduce dependence on imported defence systems.
BDL, a public sector defence company under the Ministry of Defence, will manufacture the weapons under the contract, further expanding the domestic industrial base for precision-guided munitions.
Team Bharatshakti
