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# India plans $15B of military drones. Its biggest signed kamikaze order is 540
- URL: https://hive.behindrobotics.com/india-15b-drones-540-at-a-time/
- Published: 2026-11-02T00:21:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-02T00:21:58.000Z
- Description: India plans more than ₹1.5 lakh crore (>$15B) of drones over five years. Its biggest signed loiter-munition order covers 540 munitions. Russia's Alabuga plant builds 36,000+ a year. A retired general calls it buying in 'penny packets'.
- Author: Christian Connolly
- Tags: Defense, Drones, India, Procurement, editorial

DefenseDronesIndia · Procurement · Nov 2026

India says it will spend **more than ₹1.5 lakh crore (over $15B)** on drones across its three services over five years, [India Today reported](https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-drone-arsenal-production-technology-doctrine-gaps-3027950-2026-10-30?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com) on Oct 30\. The orders actually signed tell a smaller story. The biggest loiter-munition contract to date covers **540** munitions. Russia's Alabuga plant alone builds **36,000+** Shahed-type drones a year. A retired general's word for India's approach: **"penny packets."**

Key takeaways

- **The plan:** over ₹1.5 lakh crore (>$15B) of drones across the Army, Navy and Air Force over five years (India Today, Oct 30 2026).
- **The biggest signed order:** on Aug 14 2026 the Ministry of Defence signed ₹1,577 crore with Tata Advanced Systems (540 munitions, 54 systems) and NIBE (300 munitions, 30 systems) for loiter munitions with up to 100 km range (MoD via The Hindu/PIB).
- **The pipeline:** on Oct 26 the Defence Acquisition Council approved ₹2.12 lakh crore of proposals. Six of the Army's ten items are drones, counter-drone or air defence. That approval is a first step, not a contract.
- **The gap:** one Russian plant's yearly output is about **67×** India's biggest signed loiter-munition order (our math: 36,000 ÷ 540).

\>$15B

Drones planned, 5 yrs

press-reported · India Today

540

Biggest signed LM order

MoD · TASL, Aug 2026

36,000+

Alabuga drones / year

press-reported

≈67×

The scale gap

our math

![behindrobotics chart: India's military drone orders by units. TASL 540 loiter munitions signed, Army jet kamikaze buy 540 planned, Nagastra-1R 450 delivered, NIBE 300 signed, Sureshastra 200 ordered, Peacekeeper 106 delivered, Ghatak 100+ planned, MQ-9B 31 signed](https://storage.ghost.io/c/09/37/09375154-b967-4c17-b211-df30f986b2a4/content/images/2026/11/behindrobotics-india-drone-orders-by-units-2026-11-02-2160.png)

Part 1: India's military drone orders by units. Solid bars are signed or delivered; hollow bars are planned buys with no contract. Units count drones or munitions, not launchers.

01 · The plan

## ₹1.5 lakh crore on paper

India Today's Sandeep Unnithan tallied the drone plans of all three services at **more than ₹1.5 lakh crore** over five years. The list is long: **31 MQ-9B** drones from General Atomics for about **$3.5B** (signed 2024), a planned fleet of **100+ Ghatak** stealth combat drones worth over ₹60,000 crore (not yet formally approved), and Army trials of jet-powered kamikaze drones from about a dozen firms, with a hoped-for buy of **540**. The Army also plans to train **100,000+** drone operators across **385** battalions.

The pipeline got bigger on Oct 26\. The Defence Acquisition Council gave Acceptance of Necessity to **₹2.12 lakh crore** of proposals, about 82% of it to be sourced from Indian industry ([New Indian Express](https://www.newindianexpress.com/india/2026/Oct/26/kamikaze-drones-more-k9-vajras-centre-okays-arms-buys-worth-rs-212-lakh-crore?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com), PIB). Six of the Army's ten approvals were drones, counter-drone or air defence: long-range UAS, surveillance UAVs, an integrated surveillance-and-strike system, a long-range kamikaze drone system, VSHORADS and platform-mounted counter-drone kits for tanks. An AoN is permission to start buying. Contracts can take years.

02 · The orders

## Signed in hundreds, not thousands

The largest signed loiter-munition deal is the **₹1,577 crore** pair of contracts the MoD signed on Aug 14 2026 under the fast-track procedure ([The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tasl-nibe-bag-1577-crore-army-contracts-for-loiter-munitions/article71346174.ece?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com)). Tata Advanced Systems, the L-1 bidder, gets ₹1,013.77 crore for 54 systems and **540** munitions. NIBE, L-2, gets ₹563.36 crore for 30 systems and **300** munitions. Range is up to 100 km, indigenous content is 60%, and delivery is due within 12 months of the advance payment. Neither company has named the product publicly. Our math: TASL's contract works out to about **₹1.88 crore per munition**, launchers and accessories included.

The other numbers are smaller. Solar Defence and Aerospace delivered **450** Nagastra-1R loitering munitions to the Army on a ₹158 crore contract placed in June 2025 ([Defencewatch](https://www.defencewatch.in/land/sdal-delivers-450-nagastra-1r-loitering-munitions-to-indian-army-in-largest-single-batch?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com), Oct 14 2026). Our math: about **₹35 lakh each**. The IAF ordered **200** Sureshastra jet loitering munitions from Veda Aeronautics in 2024 (India Today). SMPP delivered **106** Peacekeeper (Agniveg) jet kamikaze drones, 100 operational and 6 for training, a design that ThePrint reports comes from Belarus's KB Indela ([ThePrint](https://theprint.in/defence/op-sindoor-effect-army-receives-106-jet-powered-kamikaze-drones-from-defence-firm-smpp/2957259/?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com), Jun 11 2026).

![behindrobotics chart: one dot equals 100 drones. India's biggest signed loiter munition order 540 is 5.4 dots; Russia's Alabuga plant 36,000 a year is 360 dots; about 67 times](https://storage.ghost.io/c/09/37/09375154-b967-4c17-b211-df30f986b2a4/content/images/2026/11/behindrobotics-india-drone-scale-gap-2026-11-02-2160.png)

Part 2: the scale gap. One dot = 100 drones. Alabuga's yearly output is press-reported; 67× is our math.

03 · The gap

## Russia counts drones by the factory

India Today cites Russia's Alabuga plant at **36,000+** Shahed-type drones a year, and Russia and Ukraine at **more than 6 million** drones a year each. Those are press-reported estimates, and the types differ: Shaheds are cheap one-way attack drones, not the sensor-heavy loiter munitions on India's list. The article contrasts a roughly **$50,000** Filin drone with a **$2M** Tomahawk. Even so, the scale is hard to ignore. Our math: Alabuga's yearly output is about **67×** India's biggest signed loiter-munition order.

Lt Gen PR Shankar (retd), quoted by India Today, called the approach "penny packets": small batches spread across many vendors and programmes. The article also points to the supply chain. India has 600+ drone makers, China holds more than 80% of the global market, a small drone needs 100+ chips and an MQ-9B more than 1,000.

**How to read this**The >₹1.5 lakh crore plan, the 540-unit jet kamikaze buy, Ghatak's 100+ and ₹60,000 crore, Sureshastra 200, MQ-9B 31/$3.5B, the operator target and Alabuga/Russia/Ukraine production are press-reported (India Today, Oct 30 2026). The Ghatak plan is not formally approved, and the 540 jet kamikaze buy is planned, not signed. The TASL/NIBE contracts were signed in August 2026, not this week. The DAC's Oct 26 approvals are AoNs, not contracts. Nagastra delivery and the 80%+ indigenous figure come from Defencewatch and the company. Per-unit prices and 67× are our math. In October 2026 the CBI arrested SMPP's CEO in a separate ₹500 crore ammunition-contract bribery case (Economic Times); these are allegations, not findings. behindrobotics received no payment from any company named here.

04 · What to watch

## Five signals

- Whether the Army's jet kamikaze trials turn into a signed contract, and whether it is for 540 or for thousands.
- Which of the Oct 26 AoNs reach contract signature within 12 months.
- Whether TASL and NIBE deliver within 12 months of the advance payment.
- Whether the CCS formally approves Ghatak.
- Whether repeat orders go to one or two vendors at volume, or keep getting split.

**Bottom line**$15B is enough to build a drone industry. Orders of 540 are not. Until India signs multi-year, high-volume contracts, its suppliers are building prototypes, not production lines.

### Sources

1. India Today (Sandeep Unnithan), India's drone arsenal: production, technology and doctrine gaps (Oct 30 2026): [indiatoday.in](https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-drone-arsenal-production-technology-doctrine-gaps-3027950-2026-10-30?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com)
2. The Hindu, TASL, NIBE bag ₹1,577 crore Army contracts for loiter munitions (Aug 15 2026): [thehindu.com](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tasl-nibe-bag-1577-crore-army-contracts-for-loiter-munitions/article71346174.ece?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com) · PIB release (MoD)
3. New Indian Express, Kamikaze drones, more K9 Vajras: Centre okays arms buys worth ₹2.12 lakh crore (Oct 26 2026): [newindianexpress.com](https://www.newindianexpress.com/india/2026/Oct/26/kamikaze-drones-more-k9-vajras-centre-okays-arms-buys-worth-rs-212-lakh-crore?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com) · PIB PRID 2328486
4. Defencewatch, SDAL delivers 450 Nagastra-1R to the Indian Army (Oct 14 2026): [defencewatch.in](https://www.defencewatch.in/land/sdal-delivers-450-nagastra-1r-loitering-munitions-to-indian-army-in-largest-single-batch?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com) · Times of India (Oct 2026)
5. ThePrint, SMPP delivers 106 Peacekeeper (Agniveg) jet kamikaze drones (Jun 11 2026): [theprint.in](https://theprint.in/defence/op-sindoor-effect-army-receives-106-jet-powered-kamikaze-drones-from-defence-firm-smpp/2957259/?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com)
6. Economic Times, CBI arrests Munitions India executive director, SMPP CEO in ₹500 crore defence deal bribery case (Oct 2026): [economictimes.com](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/cbi-arrests-munitions-india-executive-director-smpp-ceo-in-rs-500-crore-defence-deal-bribery-case/articleshow/134949427.cms?ref=hive.behindrobotics.com)
7. Photos: Nagastra and DRDO SWiFT, Government of India via Wikimedia Commons (GODL-India); MQ-9 frame from GA-ASI official video on X; Sureshastra photo via X (@Kakashii2O12406); Peacekeeper press image via @ReviewVayu on X.

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