Watch | The Indian Air Force has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for man‑portable loitering munitions. These weapons are to equip the Garud special forces, providing them with a new precision strike capability.
The system must be man‑portable, have a minimum range of 40 kilometres, remain airborne for more than two hours, and be capable of carrying both high‑explosive and high‑explosive anti‑tank warheads to take on different types of targets.
Loitering munitions are designed to combine the functions of a surveillance drone and a guided weapon. Once launched, they can loiter over target areas, transmitting real‑time imagery and strike when a suitable target is identified.
This “find, fix, finish” capability reduces the sensor‑to‑shooter timeline and allows operators to abort missions if conditions change.
For the Garud special forces, such systems will be particularly useful in difficult terrain such as in the mountains or in jungles , as well as in urban environments where the chances of collateral damage is deemed too high.
Currently, the heaviest weapon with special forces units is the man-portable anti-tank guided missile. These weapons usually tend to have a range of 4-5km.
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