The Indian Air Force (IAF) has projected a requirement for 800 medium-range Swarm Unmanned Munition Systems (SUMS) to meet its operational need for remotely engaging hostile targets at ranges over 350 km.

Each system will comprise a swarm of at least 20 drones, capable of being launched in quick succession to loiter for a minimum of 30 minutes beyond 350 km and autonomously search, detect and identify both static and moving targets.

“Swarm drones are effective as they saturate enemy air defence systems, confuse enemy radars and provide IAF decision-makers the option to deploy in a couple of hours against hostile command and control targets,” states a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the Ministry of Defence on October 25.

The IAF has specified that the drones should be fixed-wing and

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