India’s first fully indigenous AI-powered combat drone, ‘Kaal Bhairava’, built by Bengaluru-based Flying Wedge Defence, is now ready for export. The company has secured a $30M export deal, marking a milestone in India’s defence technology.
Bengaluru: Bengaluru-based drone maker Flying Wedge Defence and Aerospace (FWDA) on Friday announced the readiness of its indigenous, export-ready and Artificial Intelligence-powered Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Autonomous Combat Aircraft — FWD Kaal Bhairava, in Bengaluru.
Claiming to be the country’s first fully indigenous MALE autonomous combat aircraft, the Flying Wedge Defence and Aerospace stated that it has bagged an export order of USD 30 million from a South Asian nation.
Inspired by Kaal Bhairava, the eternal guardian of time, the platform is engineered to deliver an endurance of up to 30 hours and a range of 3000 kms.
Speaking at the occasion, Suhas Tejaskanda, Founder & CEO of FWDA, said, “For decades, India has relied on foreign systems like Predator and Israeli Searcher models, but at a high strategic cost, from embedded kill-switch vulnerabilities to critical flight data routed through external servers.”
Stating that the global geopolitical landscape is shifting rapidly, Tejaskanda said: “India’s strategic relations with the US have taken a new turn this year, given that the much-touted defence deal signed last year should be revisited.”
“With tightening US defence regulations and shifting global policies, India cannot afford digital dependency during wartime.”
“Dependence on foreign systems could limit India’s strategic autonomy, as sensitive operational data may be routed through external networks and remain accessible to overseas agencies,” he added.
Built under the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the company has claimed that its platform — the FWD Kaal Bhairava E2A2 (Economic & Efficient Autonomous Aircraft) delivers advanced Al powered combat readiness at just one-tenth the cost of Predator-class systems like the MQ-9 Reaper.
Know about FWD Kaal Bhairava
“Unlike expensive imports that bring logistical hurdles and vulnerabilities, Kaal Bhairava offers superior combat value and resilience.”
Equipped with swarm warfare capabilities, the FWD Kaal Bhairava platform enables multi-angle precision strikes and saturates enemy air defence systems by deploying coordinated autonomous swarms making it a force multiplier for future warfare.
Talking about battlefield economics, he said: 10 Kaal Bhairavas can match the reconnaissance power of a single Predator at a fraction of the cost.
He further stated that while losing a Predator can cost up to Rs 1000 crore, the same investment can field an entire Kaal Bhairava fleet, ensuring no single loss cripples mission capabilities.
Additionally, FWD Kaal Bhairava provides a zero foreign OEM dependency with every key technology developed in-house, ensuring a secure, sanctions-proof independent supply chain with no operational bottlenecks.
The autonomous aircraft offers a fully indigenous MRO ecosystem, enabling faster turnaround, lower lifecycle costs, and uninterrupted access to critical spares.
Designed as a sovereign, modular, and exportable alternative to existing expensive foreign systems, he said that the export ready platform marks India’s shift from being one of the world’s largest arms importers to an emerging global exporter of next-generation defence technology.