Solar Aerospace Dismisses Claims of Joint Loitering Munition Production with Alpha Defence

Nagpur-based Solar Aerospace and Defence Ltd (SADL) on Thursday dismissed as “fabricated and fictitious” a report on a stock-market analysis platform that claimed the company had agreed to collaborate with an entity called Alpha Defence to manufacture loitering munitions developed by CSIR-NAL.

Speaking to BharatShakti, company sources said the report was wholly untrue. “This is a fabricated and fictitious report. We have not entered into any partnership or collaboration with any company,” a SADL spokesperson said, adding the firm “believes in developing and manufacturing its own products.” SADL sources also said the company has developed technology and a product in the loitering-munition space that will be demonstrated soon.

Loitering munitions — often described in defence circles as “kamikaze drones” — are unmanned aerial systems that can loiter over an area, search for targets and strike by detonating an onboard warhead. In recent years, such systems have become a tool of choice for armed forces worldwide, and India has been developing indigenous options to meet operational needs.

The dispute over the report comes amid recent Army procurements from Solar. A few months ago, the Indian Army signed a deal with Solar Defence and Aerospace Ltd to procure approximately 450 units of the Nagastra-1R loitering munition system, a follow-on to an earlier emergency order. In June 2024, Solar’s Nagpur operations, through subsidiary Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL), delivered the first batch of 480 indigenously developed Nagastra-1 systems under the Army’s Emergency Procurement Powers.

Company officials say the Nagastra-1 carries more than 75% indigenous content, is man-portable and intended to provide precision-strike capability to troops. Solar Industries is reported to be developing advanced follow-on variants, Nagastra-2 and Nagastra-3, with extended performance and larger warhead capacities, and has also submitted proposals for the Design & Development of Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) class drones.

With both Solar and the entity named in the market report publicly rejecting the claimed tie-up, market watchers and defence analysts will be watching closely for the company’s planned demonstration of its loitering-munition product and any further clarifications from the platform that published the original story.

Team BharatShakti