Azad Engineering Hands DRDO India's First Fully Indigenous Turbojet Engine

India crossed a long-sought threshold in defence propulsion on 22 July 2026, when Hyderabad-based Azad Engineering delivered the country's first fully indigenous expendable turbojet engine to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The 350-kg thrust-class engine was designed by DRDO's Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) and realised, manufactured and assembled by Azad Engineering, which GTRE had identified as its industry partner for the programme.

A milestone for self-reliant propulsion

Jet-engine hot sections are among the most demanding pieces of hardware any country can build, which is why so few have mastered them. Delivering a complete, home-built turbojet is therefore a significant marker for India's push towards self-reliance in the technologies that sit at the heart of missiles and unmanned aircraft.

Officially designated the Advanced Turbo Engine, also referred to as the Advanced Turbo Gas Generator (ATGG), the powerplant is a single-spool turbojet. It combines a four-stage axial-flow compressor, an annular combustor, a single-stage axial-flow uncooled turbine and a fixed exit-area nozzle — a compact, robust architecture suited to expendable applications where the engine flies once.

Designed by GTRE, built by industry

The engine embodies a design-and-build partnership that India has been trying to institutionalise: a government research lab owning the design while a private precision-manufacturing firm delivers the hardware at production quality. GTRE carried the aerothermal and mechanical design; Azad Engineering brought the precision machining, advanced engineering and complex aero-engine assembly needed to turn that design into a running unit.

The engine was formally handed over by Azad Engineering's founder and chief executive Rakesh Chopdar to senior DRDO leadership, including the Director General for Aeronautics Systems Dr K. Rajalakshmi Menon and GTRE Director Dr S.V. Ramanamurty. Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh congratulated the team, calling the collaboration a landmark for India's aerospace and defence ecosystem.

Powering missiles and drones

The immediate application for the 350-kg thrust engine is India's medium-range anti-ship missile, where a compact, expendable turbojet provides the sustained cruise power such weapons need. The same class of engine is well suited to loitering munitions, target drones and other unmanned platforms, giving India a domestic option for a category of propulsion it has often had to import.

Because the engine is expendable, it is optimised for cost-effective manufacture at scale rather than the long service life of a fighter engine. That distinction matters: building large numbers of affordable, reliable cruise powerplants domestically directly supports India's growing family of precision-strike and unmanned systems.

Part of a wider engine push

The ATGG delivery lands amid a broader Indian effort to close the gap in gas-turbine technology, a field where the country has historically leaned on foreign suppliers. From the long-running Kaveri programme to newer collaborations on higher-thrust engines, India has been steadily assembling the design know-how, materials expertise and manufacturing base that a sovereign engine industry demands. A completed, delivered turbojet in the expendable class is a concrete, near-term win in that longer campaign.

For Azad Engineering, a company better known as a precision components supplier to global aerospace and energy majors, the delivery signals a move up the value chain into complete engine systems. For DRDO and the armed forces, it means one more critical subsystem that can be sourced, upgraded and scaled at home.

Sources

• The Week — Made-in-India turbojet engine delivered to DRDO. Why this is a big boost for India's engine journey (23 July 2026): https://www.theweek.in/news/defence/2026/07/23/made-in-india-turbojet-engine-delivered-to-drdo-why-this-is-a-big-boost-for-indias-engine-journey.html
• OpIndia — Azad Engineering delivers its first fully indigenous expendable turbojet engine to DRDO: https://www.opindia.com/news-updates/azad-engineering-delivers-its-first-fully-indigenous-expendable-turbojet-engine-to-drdo/
• idrw.org — Azad Engineering delivers its first fully indigenous expendable turbojet engine to DRDO for use in NASM-MR: https://idrw.org/azad-engineering-delivers-its-first-fully-indigenous-expendable-turbojet-engine-to-drdo-for-use-in-nasm-mr/
• Autocar Professional — AZAD to build advanced turbo engine for India's Defence Programs for GTRE, DRDO: https://www.autocarpro.in/news/azad-to-build-advanced-turbo-engine-for-indias-defence-programs-for-gtre-drdo-120650