Flying Wedge Defence and Aerospace announces readiness of India's first Al-powered MALE combat aircraft programme

In a defining leap for India’s defence landscape, Flying Wedge Defence and Aerospace (FWDA) on August 22 announced the readiness of the nation’s first indigenous, export-ready Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Autonomous Combat Aircraft.

- R ANIL KUMAR

Inspired by Kaala Bhairav, the eternal guardian of time, the platform is designed, developed and manufactured entirely on home soil. The aircraft is engineered to deliver an endurance of up to 30 hours and a range of 3,000 km.

After the video screening of the test flight, the company announced that the platform has secured a landmark export order from a South Asian nation of $25 million as a part of a $30-million total strategic deal.

This development showcases the world’s growing reliance on Indian innovation to secure their skies and positions India as a leading defence innovator and trusted supplier of advanced Al warfare platforms.

Speaking at the occasion, Suhas Tejaskanda, Founder & CEO of FWDA, said: “For decades, India has relied on foreign systems like Predator and Israeli Searcher models, but at a high strategic cost, from embedded kill-switch vulnerabilities to critical flight data routed through external servers.