The Indian Army’s induction of 106 Agniveg turbojet-powered kamikaze drones, and the Indian Air Force’s separate move towards indigenous production of similar weapons, have put the spotlight on loitering munitions — cheap and precise unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have reshaped modern warfare.
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What are kamikaze drones?
The term kamikaze has its origins in the Second World War, when Japan designated pilots to fly their aircraft directly into Allied ships in what were called suicide missions. More than eight decades later, kamikaze describes a class of unmanned drones or loitering munitions, which identify their targets and then crash into them or destroy them.
According to India’s Department of Defence Production, these drones have two tactical advantages. They can respond fast without requiring high-value military assets to be pre-positioned in an area.
Because these are rudimentary, and consequently cheaper, any losses in combat aren’t as painful for a military to operate. These drones also allow flexibility in operations. The drones can be pre-programmed to hit a target, though strikes can also be adjusted or aborted mid-flight.
Launched in swarms, these drones can also overwhelm an enemy’s defence systems. According to the Indian Council of World Affairs, “powerful nations are adapting to low-cost innovations, such as drones, loitering munitions and electronic warfare systems.” This is owing to economic and cost-benefit consideration.
Iran’s Shahed meets US’s Lucas
Iran-designed Shahed-136, defence analysts say, was key to Tehran’s offensive against American military installations across West Asia after the US and Israel launched their attack in late-February.
The Shahed 136, according to Reuters news agency, costs approximately $20,000 to produce.
American think-tank Council on Foreign Relations said in an analysis published in March earlier this year that the Patriot defence system missiles that the US used to intercept Iran’s Shahed in West Asia cost about $4 million per unit.
This asymmetry was recognised by the US before the West Asia conflict. In 2025, Washington undertook the development of its own equivalent drones, manufactured by Arizona-based Spekteworks, to counter the Shahed-class of weapons. Within eight months after its unveiling at the Pentagon, according to Reuters, LUCAS or Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System – built at approximately $35,000 per unit — was pressed into action in West Asia.
Before West Asia
The Shahed’s battlefield record predates the West Asia conflict. The Wall Street Journal reported in June, 2025 that Russia had deployed the Shahed drones at scale, routinely launching scores of these drones simultaneously.
Ukraine, which has been battling Russia since 2002, eventually responded by ramping up its own domestic drone production, developing low cost intercepted drones to hunt down the Shaheds, the Associated Press reported. Kyiv also adapted how it defends against Russian drones and electronic warfare, according to a CFR analysis published last week. For example, in additional to traditional air defenses, Ukraine’s air force also uses fiber-optic cables to guide one-way attack systems to protect against jamming, and deploys nets to o ensnare drones approaching key Ukrainian supply roads.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in March this year said the US Pentagon had approached Kyiv for assistance in countering Iranian drone technology.
India’s Agniveg: What we know
India’s response to the proliferation of these drones in active conflict is the Agniveg — formally, the Jet Based Peacekeeper — manufactured by domestic firm SMPP.
In an event to mark the delivery of 106 Agniveg to the Indian Army last week, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh said that in modern warfare, “even small powers can cause heavy losses with their small but dangerous weapons and new tactics”. Singh had raised the same concern in March, underlining the strategic importance of drones and counter-drone capabilities.
The Agniveg is designed to strike high-value targets deep inside enemy territory. Its turbojet engine gives it both reach and speed. In user trials, it had an operational range of 180 kilometres.
