Role & capabilities
- Vertical take-off and landing
- Multispectral surveillance
- Alternative propulsion configurations
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- ideaForge Technology
- Origin / production countries
- India
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- ZOLT electric; ZOLT Hybrid; ZOLT Hybrid HA
- Operators / programme customers
- Not identified in reviewed sources
Evidence & current status
Customer-trial evidence does not establish an accepted operator fleet. No endurance or payload numbers have been inferred.
ZOLT extends ideaForge's surveillance portfolio into a larger tactical vertical-take-off family. Its current product page distinguishes a battery-electric aircraft, a hybrid combining an internal-combustion engine with batteries, and a high-altitude hybrid version. Their published communications distances and operating altitudes differ, so they should not be collapsed into a single maximum-performance specification.
The company describes multispectral observation and a recoverable VTOL arrangement. Its October 2025 investor discussion placed ZOLT in customer trials and procurement competitions after an extended development effort. That is more specific than a generic product announcement, but it does not by itself identify an accepted military fleet.
ZOLT is separate from ideaForge's SWITCH and NETRA entries. It also should not inherit figures from the firm's larger YETI development. Current public material supports the three ZOLT configuration names and their broad propulsion distinctions; a complete mass, payload and endurance table remains to be published or independently confirmed. Listed line-of-sight distances describe the communications offering, not guaranteed mission radius.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Vertical take-off and landing | Supplier baseline; performance depends on payload and conditions. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Battery electric; internal-combustion/battery hybrid options | Supplier baseline; performance depends on payload and conditions. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Range | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Speed | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Electric: 3,000 m AMSL; Hybrid: 4,000 m; Hybrid HA: 6,000 m | Operating-altitude figures by named version; not interchangeable. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Published LOS distances: electric 50 km; hybrid versions 100 km | Line-of-sight communications figures, not aircraft travel range. Source ↗ |
Publication history
- — Added in the September 2026 global coverage review, with sources, configuration limits and explicit data gaps.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- ideaForge ZOLT product page (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
- ideaForge October 2025 investor call transcript (opens in a new tab)Company filing