UAV Pvt. Ltd. (HoverIt) on Sunday announced the successful flight of Divyastra Mk3, a next-generation, jet-powered loitering munition developed indigenously in India.
HoverIt said the ‘Divyastra Mk3’, powered by an indigenous jet engine developed by DG Propulsion, completed its maiden flight on August 11, 2026. The company highlighted that the system was developed from programme inception to maiden flight within one calendar year, without an imported jet engine or foreign critical subsystem.
The company said the successful flight marks a significant milestone for indigenous defence manufacturing, demonstrating India’s ability to conceive, engineer and fly a jet-powered precision strike system entirely within the country.
“This is not merely a test flight; it is a declaration of intent. India has demonstrated, at scale and at speed, that it can conceive, engineer, and fly a jet-powered precision strike system entirely from within its own borders. Divyastra Mk3 is Atmanirbhar Bharat in action,” the company’s co-founders said.
Earlier, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) completed the final deliverable configuration development trials of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM)-V3 in Air-to-Ground and Air-to-Air modes at a DRDO test range near Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.
The trials were conducted using an integrated Ground Control System (GCS) to command and control the ULPGM weapon system. According to DRDO, the GCS incorporates advanced technologies to automate readiness and launch operations.
DRDO has partnered with two production agencies, Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad, and Adani Defence Systems & Technologies Limited, Hyderabad, for the development and production of the missiles. The system has been integrated with UAVs developed by Newspace Research and Technologies, Bengaluru, for the ongoing trials.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, PSUs, defence production partners and the industry for the successful development trials of ULPGM-V3 in the Air-to-Ground mode for the anti-tank role and in Air-to-Air modes against drones, helicopters and other airborne targets. He described the achievement as a strategic milestone towards Aatmanirbharta in Defence.
(with ANI inputs)
