The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has conducted a flight trial of an indigenously developed High-Altitude Platform (HAPS).
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the successful trial as an important milestone towards developing a long-endurance stratospheric airship under India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
The experimental airship reached an altitude of 21 km above mean sea level (AMSL) and remained at 20 km AMSL for over 30 minutes. The system was subsequently commanded to descend before being successfully recovered, following which flight-performance data was analysed, the Ministry of Defence said on 6 October.
Real-time video and vehicle-parameter data were transmitted to a Ground Control Station throughout the flight, with DRDO reporting that the data demonstrated the intended flight performance.
The platform carried instrumentation and control electronics including an inertial measurement unit, Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, onboard cameras and an altitude-control mechanism, alongside other subsystems.
The trial represents a step in the development of an Indian high-altitude platform, although the Ministry of Defence has not disclosed the platform’s planned operational endurance, payload capacity or intended service-entry timeline.
The HAPS is being designed and developed by DRDO’s Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), Agra. DRDO describes the system as a lighter-than-air, long-endurance stratospheric aerial surveillance platform.
In May 2025, the DRDO announced that it successfully carried out the maiden flight-trials of Stratospheric Airship Platform developed by ADRDE from Sheopur Trial site in Madhya Pradesh. The airship was launched carrying an instrumental payload to an altitude of around 17 kms and the total flight duration was about 62 minutes.
Another experimental High-Altitude Platform is in development with CSIR-NAL. The subscale vehicle has achieved an altitude of 7.5 km and over 10 hours endurance. Its first full-scale flight to 20 km is targeted for 2027. A dedicated manufacturing facility for this platform was inaugurated in Bengaluru in November 2025.
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