FWDA has also established its first international manufacturing node in Portugal
Flying Wedge Defence & Aerospace (FWDA) has completed 100 cumulative hours of flight testing of its indigenous FWD Kaal Bhairava Lite, as the Bengaluru-based company develops the platform for long-range autonomous defence applications.
Designed and manufactured in India with an 80% indigenisation rate, Kaal Bhairava Lite has undergone flight testing in challenging weather conditions, including 25–30 knot wind gusts over the Bay of Bengal. The company said the testing generated flight data on aircraft behaviour and control in strong winds. The platform has also completed a demonstration in Jammu & Kashmir for multi-terrain operations.
The aircraft is designed for a range of up to 1,200 km and an endurance of 8–10 hours. During testing, it demonstrated a climb rate of 7–8 m/s, a cruise speed of 100–120 km/h, and take-off and landing distances of less than 120 metres.
“One hundred hours of flight testing gives us an extensively tested indigenous aircraft architecture,” said Suhas Tejaskanda, Founder and CEO, FWDA. “Kaal Bhairava has demonstrated its short-field capability, strong climb performance and operation in demanding wind conditions.”
FWDA is also developing a pneumatic-assisted launch configuration for Kaal Bhairava Lite, aimed at enabling deployment from ships and austere locations without conventional runway infrastructure.
The development comes as the Indian Navy examines requirements for long-range ship- and shore-launched loitering munitions. The Navy’s current RFI seeks a system with a range exceeding 1,000 km and endurance of more than nine hours. FWDA is evaluating the Kaal Bhairava architecture for potential adaptation to such requirements.
The company said the programme has attracted interest from domestic and international markets and that it had previously secured an export order from a South Asian country.
FWDA has also established its first international manufacturing node in Portugal, which it describes as a strategic entry point into Europe. The company aims to build a presence in Portugal and access opportunities across the wider European and NATO defence ecosystem.
With the completion of 100 flight-test hours, FWDA is continuing to develop Kaal Bhairava Lite as a long-range autonomous aircraft platform for domestic and international defence applications.
