The Indian Air Force's (IAF) $4.17 billion project to develop and produce localised unmanned stealth fighters (Ghatak) is part of India's asymmetric warfare strategy, especially amid the success of Iranian drones against American targets in the Gulf during the ongoing war between the US-Israel and the Islamic Republic in the Middle East.
"Remotely Piloted Strike Aircraft or RPSA will enable undertaking Offensive Counter and Coordinated Air Operations, also providing stealth Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance activities," the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said last week.
Ghatak is being developed as an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle that's specifically optimised for strike missions.
Its main role is to be used as an unmanned low-observable bomber and suppress the adversary's air defence capability and command & control assets without risking the need to expose manned multirole fighters.
Its main role is to be used as an unmanned low-observable bomber and suppress the adversary's air defence capability and command & control assets without risking the need to expose manned multirole fighters.
"Ghatak essentially allows the IAF to conduct Offensive Counter Air Operations (OCA) in high-risk zones without endangering pilots' lives," Abhijit Apsingikar, a drone analyst with the military market intelligence firm GlobalData, told Sputnik India.
As such, the IAF envisions Ghatak to be designed as an expendable strike asset that is to be deployed in the first wave offensive to neutralise high-value targets like command & control nodes, radar sites, logistic depots and high priority airfields and communication hubs during an early stage of a conflict, or at the time of the war breaking out, he added.
Like Russia's Su-57 and the S-70 Okhotnik-B heavy stealth drone, which acts as the former's loyal wingman, Delhi plans to have the Ghatak work in collaboration with its upcoming 5.5-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) through "manned-unmanned teaming".
Like Russia's Su-57 and the S-70 Okhotnik-B heavy stealth drone, which acts as the former's loyal wingman, Delhi plans to have the Ghatak work in collaboration with its upcoming 5.5-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) through "manned-unmanned teaming".
"Although the production of S-70 Okhotnik was scheduled to start sometime in 2025, the integration of Su-57 Felon and S-70 Okhotnik Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle integration is still a work in progress and continues to be refined. However, the deployment of S-70 Okhotnik in active combat operations offers a template for the IAF to deploy Ghatak UCAV in the Manned Unmanned Teaming (MUMT) framework," underscored Apsingikar.
An S-70 B Okhotnik was shot down during combat operations in 2024 in friendly fire over the Donetsk region in Ukraine, and although it was an early production prototype flown to primarily gather performance data in a real operational environment, its loss suggests that low-observable design isn't perfect and has limitations, the observer reckoned.
As such, when the IAF deploys the Ghatak in the MUMT framework, it needs to be treated as an expendable asset and with full realisation that it could be shot down as well, he stressed.
As such, when the IAF deploys the Ghatak in the MUMT framework, it needs to be treated as an expendable asset and with full realisation that it could be shot down as well, he stressed.
"The Ghatak UCAV, when operating in a MUMT framework, needs to be deployed not as a single unit but rather in a swarm or a wolf-pack, where it can lead a strike package ahead of the manned fighter units and act as a pathfinder unit to scout defence and engage them," Apsingikar underlined.