India test fires indigenous Bhargavastra to counter drone swarms with low-cost precision

The test, conducted on Tuesday at the Seaward Firing Range in Odisha’s Gopalpur, met all designated performance benchmarks.

The system is designed to operate effectively across varying terrains, including regions above 5,000 metres, aligning with the operational requirements of Indian forces deployed in high-altitude areas.

Developed indigenously, Bhargavastra features micro rockets and a dedicated micro-missile to target hostile UAVs.

The Strategic Defence and Analysis Laboratory (SDAL) noted the system's modularity, which allows it to incorporate a soft-kill layer—such as jamming and spoofing—creating a holistic defensive mechanism for all branches of the military.

The system’s radar, electro-optical (EO), and radio frequency (RF) sensors, along with its shooter, can be configured to suit user-specific needs.

These components can function cohesively to deliver layered and tiered air defence, capable of intercepting threats at extended ranges.

Bhargavastra is also designed to integrate seamlessly with India’s existing network-centric warfare framework.

Its Command-and-Control Centre employs sophisticated C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence) technology.

The radar can detect aerial threats as small as micro drones at ranges of 6 to 10 kilometres, while the EO/IR suite ensures accurate tracking of low radar cross-section (LRCS) targets.

Bhargavastra's developers underscored its strategic value as a scalable, open-architecture system with unmatched cost efficiency.

While similar technologies are under development in several advanced countries, a fully indigenous, multi-layered solution with effective swarm-neutralisation capability like Bhargavastra has not yet been fielded anywhere else in the world.