India pursues indigenous loitering munitions
The fixed-wing LM-0 loitering munition carries a 1.5kg warhead and it possesses a 15km range. (Zmotion)
India is fast-tracking development of loitering munitions for the army, with an EoI exercise under way and recent testing of various types.
The Indian Army successfully tested three types of indigenously developed loitering munitions at a 4,500m altitude. These were designed for eventual use against enemy bunkers, ground-based C2 nodes, artillery and armoured formations.
Military sources said two LM-0 and LM-1 fixed-wing loitering munitions, plus a Hexa-copter carrying a 4kg warhead, flew from Ladakh’s Nurba Valley near the Chinese border in late March. Developed jointly by Economic Explosives Limited and Zmotion Autonomous Systems, they engaged ground targets with ‘precision and accuracy’.
The Army Design Bureau assisted in the two-day trial.
India’s MoD has prioritised the domestic development of loitering munitions, banning their
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