Role & capabilities
- Concept aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Concept aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- DRDO — Aeronautical Development Establishment
- Origin / production countries
- India
- Other names
- Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator; Indian tailless UAV demonstrator
- Variants / configurations
- Technology demonstrator; no production variant established
- Operators / programme customers
- DRDO flight-test programme
Evidence & current status
A flown research demonstrator is confirmed; operational deployment, weapon integration and a production specification are not established.
The Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator is a DRDO research aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment. India's Ministry of Defence confirmed a successful flight trial in December 2023 and specifically described the aircraft's tailless flying-wing configuration. Its public significance is the demonstrated control of that configuration and autonomous flight technologies, rather than a published operational mission specification.
This catalogue records the demonstrator as a flown development aircraft. The government announcement does not provide a complete size, mass, endurance, payload or service-entry baseline. It also does not establish that a full-size combat aircraft has entered production. Those distinctions matter because technology demonstrators and proposed follow-on systems are frequently discussed together in news coverage.
Comparisons should therefore focus on programme purpose and the maturity of the demonstrated aircraft. Claimed characteristics of Ghatak or other future Indian combat UAVs should remain with their respective programmes until a source explicitly connects a specification to this vehicle. The entry can be expanded as additional official test results, programme names or procurement decisions become public.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Tailless flying wing | Official description of the demonstrated configuration. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Range | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Speed | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Autonomous flight and satellite-assisted navigation demonstrated | High-level government description; no operational resilience rating implied. Source ↗ |
Documented milestones
Successful flight trial announced
Government announcement confirms the tailless flying-wing demonstrator's flight trial.
Read the announcement ↗
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.