Innovative Achievement: BITS Pilani Students Design Radar-Evading Drones, Secured by Indian Army for Employment
In an unprecedented collaboration, a group of engineering students from BITS Pilani have developed high-speed, radar-evading kamikaze drones that have caught the attention of the Indian Army. The students, Jayant Khatri (mechanical engineering) and Sourya Choudhury (electrical engineering), assembled prototypes of these drones in their hostel room at the Hyderabad campus.
The drones, small, silent, and equipped with AI-guided navigation systems, are capable of 300 km/h speeds—about five times faster than standard commercial UAVs—and delivering a 1 kg precision payload while remaining undetectable by radar systems.
The students' project, named Apollyon Drones, started in late 2023. Despite having no formal backing initially, they launched their startup and reached out to the Indian Army through cold emails on LinkedIn. Their breakthrough came when a colonel responded and invited them for a demonstration in Chandigarh. Successful demos followed, leading to orders from Army units in various locations across India, including Jammu, Haryana (Chandimandir), West Bengal (Panagarh), and Arunachal Pradesh—all within two months of founding their startup.
The students aimed to reduce India's dependency on imported defense equipment and make the country self-reliant in UAV technology. Their achievement has been hailed by BITS faculty as a significant student-led innovation in the defense sector, showing rapid progress from a hostel-room project to supplying advanced kamikaze drones to the Indian Army.
The Indian Army has praised the students for their ingenuity and tactical vision. They have also offered support for large-scale development of the drones under military supervision. Impressed by the performance and cost-efficiency, the Indian Army has initiated talks and has now offered placements to some of the team members.
What sets these drones apart is their ability to avoid radar and operate in GPS-denied environments. This feature has been appreciated by the Indian Army for its potential in various military operations. The drones function as loitering munitions and are designed to hit targets with precision.
The students' engineering ingenuity, strategic outreach through digital platforms, and ability to customize technology for Indian conditions have enabled them to rapidly develop these radar-evading kamikaze drones and gain Army attention and orders. The drones developed by the engineering students have gained recognition from the Indian Army for their unique features and capabilities.
A final-year engineering student involved in the project expressed surprise about the drones ending up on the Indian Army's radar. However, the students are thrilled about the opportunity to contribute to the nation's defense sector and continue to work on improving the drones' performance and capabilities.
[1] Indian Army Collaborates with BITS Pilani Students to Develop Radar-Evading Kamikaze Drones [2] BITS Pilani Students Develop Radar-Evading Kamikaze Drones [3] Indian Army Orders Radar-Evading Kamikaze Drones from BITS Pilani Students [4] BITS Pilani Students Develop Radar-Evading Kamikaze Drones for Indian Army
[1] The collaboration between BITS Pilani students and the Indian Army has resulted in the development of advanced radar-evading kamikaze drones, a significant achievement in science and technology.
[2] The BITS Pilani students' project in science and technology, Apollyon Drones, has gained recognition from the Indian Army for its radar-evading kamikaze drones, a breakthrough in the field of sports and defense.
