DRDO Tests Missile Launched From Drone: New Defence Power Unlocked
DRDO has successfully tested yje launch of a missile from drone (Image Courtesy: X.com/@DRDO_India)
Unlocking a new defence power, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) on Friday (July 25) conducted a successful trial of missile launch from a drone. With this, India has joined the elite group of countries, including China, Iran, Israel, Turkey, the US, that have these capabilities.
The use of drones is going to go up in the future with countries heavily relying on them in any wars to come. In view of the same, India has been advancing its drone deployment too and a recent example of the same was Operation Sindoor, in which the use of drones became the highlight.
Now, in another big boost to our defence capabilities, DRDO has successfully carried out flight-trials of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM)-V3 at the National Open Area Range (NOAR) test range in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.
The missile is an enhanced version of the ULPGM-V2 missile developed and delivered by DRDO earlier.
What is the (ULPGM)-V3 missile?
A precision-guided missile launched from drones, the ULPGM-V3 is designed to strike targets with high accuracy while reducing risk to personnel. It is equipped with a high-definition dual-channel seeker that can strike a wide variety of targets and builds on earlier versions of the system.
The missile is an extended-range variant also called ULM-ER and was showcased at the Aero India 2025 show.
ULPGM-V3 is jointly developed by DRDO laboratories namely Research Centre Imarat, Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, High-Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Integrated Test Range and Defence Electronics Research Laboratory.
How well-equipped is the (ULPGM)-V3 missile?
Imagine the extreme conditions where our armed forces our deployed. To suit their needs and the demands of modern warfare, the (ULPGM)-V3 missile is capable of being fired in plain and high-altitude areas. It also has day-and-night capability and two-way data link to support post-launch target/aim-point update.
Moreover, the drone missile has 3 modular warhead options: Anti-armour to destroy modern age armoured vehicles equipped with Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA) with Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA); Penetration-cum-Blast warhead with Anti Bunker application and Pre-fragmentation warhead with a high lethality zone.
ULPGM-V3 missile features passive homing with an imaging infrared (IR) seeker for both day and night operations. The 12.5 kg fire-and-forget missile is powered by a small dualthrust solid propulsion unit, enabling it to achieve a maximum range of 4 km during the day and 2.5 km at night.
Communication is facilitated via a two-way datalink. With multiple warhead options, the munition is designed to engage various static and moving targets.
