New Delhi: Adani Defence-made Drishti 10 Starliner drone, which was undergoing acceptance trials for the Indian Navy, ditched off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat on Tuesday (Jan 14). Sources in the establishment said: “The drone was not delivered to the Indian Navy. The drone was under pre-acceptance trials by the vendor.”

In 2024, the Adani Defence handed over the first medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) drone – Drishti 10 Starliner to the then Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar at its Hyderabad manufacturing site. 

These drones were procured under emergency financial powers in an effort to boost the force's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

The sources further added that the crashed drone has been recovered. 

Adani Defence manufactured the Drishti 10 Starliner under license from Israeli Elbit Systems. It is an all-weather drone with 70 percent indigenous content. The drone has an endurance of 36 hours and can carry a payload of 450 kg. 

It must be noted that in September 2024 an MQ-9B Sea Guardian remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), leased from the US, crashed into the Bay of Bengal due to a technical glitch.

Prior to the crash, the Indian Navy was operating two MQ-9Bs leased from the US for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), amid belligerent Chinese behaviour in the region. 

In 2024, India inked a contract to procure 31 MQ-9B drones from the US worth USD 3.5 billion. The Drishti 10 Starliner, an all-weather drone, is 70% domestically produced, boasts a 36-hour endurance, and can carry a payload of up to 450 kg. Equipped with three hard points, it can also be armed if necessary.