NewSpace's Sheshnaag-150 Strike Drone Completes Its First Rocket-Assisted Take-Off Trial
NewSpace Research & Technologies has fired the 1,000 km-class Sheshnaag-150 from a rocket booster for the first time, a step towards runway-free, canister-launched deployment, though induction is still some way off.
Bengaluru's NewSpace Research & Technologies (NRT) says it has completed the first rocket-assisted take-off (RATO) trial of its Sheshnaag-150, a long-range, one-way attack drone. The test was reported on 15 October 2026 and carried out by NRT's GryphonWorks team. It adds a launch method that does not need a runway, a capability that matters as much for how a strike drone is deployed as how far it can fly.
What a RATO trial proves
A RATO booster is a small solid rocket motor attached to the airframe. It gives a short burst of high thrust to get the drone up to flying speed within a few metres, and then drops away. The drone's own engine takes over for the cruise.
According to reports from idrw.org, The Defense News and Indian Defence News, the booster lets the Sheshnaag-150 launch from a zero-length rail rather than a runway. idrw.org reported that the work is aimed at canister launches, with the bolt-on booster pushing the munition out of a sealed container. Other coverage described the gain more broadly as the ability to take off from short or unprepared sites.
That is the operational point. A strike drone that needs a runway is tied to airfields, which are easy for an adversary to find and target. A drone that can be fired from a truck-mounted rail or a canister can be dispersed, hidden and launched from almost anywhere, including in salvoes. Most modern one-way attack drones in service around the world use some form of rocket-assisted or catapult launch for exactly this reason.
NRT called the trial a first for an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured (IDDM) long-range strike asset.
The drone itself
The Sheshnaag-150 is described as a long-range, swarming, one-way attack drone of about 150 kg. Reported figures, which come mostly from company statements and defence-press accounts, put its range at roughly 1,000 km or more with a 25–40 kg warhead. In April 2026 the drone flew about 720 km during testing at Pokhran, without a live warhead.
Reported accuracy figures are inconsistent. Some outlets give a circular error probable (CEP) below 10 metres and others about 5 metres. Neither has been independently verified, and both should be read as claims until official trial results are published.
Why it matters
India's interest in long-range loitering and one-way attack munitions has grown sharply, driven by recent conflicts in which cheap drones in large numbers have hit targets that once needed expensive cruise missiles. A domestically built drone that can fly about 1,000 km, launch without a runway and operate in swarms would give the armed forces a relatively cheap way to hold distant targets at risk. Because the design, production and supply chain are Indian, it would also be insulated from export controls on foreign systems.
NRT is one of several Indian companies, alongside start-ups and established defence firms, now competing in this segment. Its earlier Sheshnag-20 loitering munition completed a flight test in March this year. The RATO result adds a practical deployment capability to a programme that so far has been judged mainly on range.
What remains
Coverage of the trial is clear that this is a development milestone, not induction. Further operational testing and evaluation will be needed before the drone can enter frontline service, and no induction timeline has been confirmed. The next signs to watch are repeated canister launches, trials with a live warhead, and any user evaluation by the Army or Air Force. Each of these would move the Sheshnaag-150 from a promising prototype towards an operational weapon.
Sources
- https://idrw.org/newspace-tests-rato-booster-on-sheshnag-150-lottering-munition-for-canister-launches/
- https://www.thedefensenews.com/Bengaluru-Developed-Sheshnaag-150-Completes-First-Rocket-Assisted-Take-Off-Trial/
- https://www.indiandefensenews.in/2026/10/sheshnag-150-gains-runway-independent.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheshnaag-150
- https://www.indiandefensenews.in/2026/03/newspace-research-technologies-triumphs.html