Archive · 16 Aug 2026
India Tests First Fully Indigenous Jet-Powered Loitering Munition Divyastra Mk3
India has built a new kind of flying machine called a loitering munition.
A loitering munition can fly into the sky and wait, or 'loiter,' before it is sent to hit a target.
This machine, called Divyastra Mk3, is special because it is jet-powered.
It is also special because every important part of it was made in India.
A company called Kawa UAV, also known as HoverIt, built the drone part.
Another Indian company, DG Propulsion, built the engine.
Building the whole machine, from a blank idea on paper to a flying weapon, took less than eight months.
The engine worked exactly as it was supposed to during the test.
This means India is now one of only a few countries that can make such jet-powered flying machines on their own.
The people who made it say this is 'Atmanirbhar Bharat in action,' which means a self-reliant India.
Lucknow-based defence startup Kawa UAV Pvt. Ltd. (HoverIt) tested Divyastra Mk3, India's first fully indigenous jet-powered loitering munition.
The turbojet engine was engineered entirely by Indian propulsion firm DG Propulsion and met all predefined operational parameters during the trial.
The platform went from a blank-page concept to a fully airborne weapon system in under eight months.
The programme began at the start of 2026 and the munition flew in mid-August without foreign critical subsystems or imported jet engines.
HoverIt's co-founders called the test 'Atmanirbhar Bharat in action,' placing India among a select group of nations that can domestically produce jet-powered loitering munitions.
- Who
- Kawa UAV Pvt. Ltd. (HoverIt), a Lucknow-based defence startup, and DG Propulsion, the Indian propulsion technology company that engineered the turbojet.
- What
- Conducted the first test flight of Divyastra Mk3, India's first fully indigenous jet-powered loitering munition.
- When
- Mid-August 2026; the programme began at the start of 2026 and reached flight in under eight months.
- Where
- India — developed by HoverIt in Lucknow, within the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (the test location was not disclosed).
- Why
- To demonstrate India's ability to conceive, engineer and fly a jet-powered precision strike system without relying on foreign critical subsystems or imported jet engines, in line with Atmanirbhar Bharat.
- Weapon system
- Divyastra Mk3, a jet-powered loitering munition
- Developer
- Kawa UAV Pvt. Ltd. (HoverIt), a Lucknow-based defence startup
- Engine
- Turbojet engineered by DG Propulsion, an Indian propulsion technology company
- Development timeline
- Under eight months; programme started in early 2026, first flight in mid-August 2026
- Indigenous content
- No foreign critical subsystems or imported jet engines
- Significance
- India's first fully indigenous jet-powered loitering munition
- Location
- Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor, Lucknow