Faster drones, cruise missile boost: What DRDO’s new turbojet engine can power
India's DRDO has successfully developed an expendable turbojet engine designed for cruise missiles and loitering munitions. This advancement enhances the country's defense capabilities by providing a cost-effective, high-speed alternative to existing drone and missile technologies.
Why it matters
The development of indigenous jet-powered munitions reflects a broader trend of nations seeking self-reliance in advanced military technology to counter modern kinetic warfare threats.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) has successfully developed an expendable turbojet engine in the 350kg thrust class.Powerplants such as these are used on platforms including cruise missiles and target drones. With the advent of jet-powered loitering munitions, their use cases are expected to expand further. Such engines have long powered cruise missiles, including the US Tomahawk.As conflicts increasingly move towards non-contact kinetic warfare, this class of jet engine is becoming crucial. The engine developed by GTRE is less powerful than the 450kg thrust-class Small Turbofan Engine (STFE) developed for the Long-Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LR-LACM), according to a source in the DRDO.The development comes just over a month after the Army received 106 jet-powered Peacekeeper (Agniveg) loitering munitions from domestic defence firm SMPP.
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