IAF Opens Race to Develop Indigenous High-Altitude Pseudo Satellite for Persistent Surveillance

The Indian Air Force has formally opened the industry competition to develop an indigenous Fixed-Wing High Altitude Pseudo Satellite, or FW-HAPS, moving one of India’s most ambitious unmanned surveillance programmes into the next stage of development.

The Department of Defence Production confirmed on September 10, 2026, that an Expression of Interest has been issued under the Make-I programme for the design and development of the FW-HAPS.

The EoI has been sent to companies that participated in the earlier feasibility study. The government has also opened the door to additional vendors, allowing companies interested in joining the programme to seek the EoI from Air Headquarters until October 7, 2026.

The development effectively starts the competitive phase for an Indian-built unmanned aircraft designed to remain high in the stratosphere for prolonged periods while carrying out surveillance, communications and other missions normally associated with satellites or high-endurance aircraft.

DAC Cleared FW-HAPS in July

The latest EoI follows approval from the Defence Acquisition Council on July 3, 2026.

The Ministry of Defence officially confirmed that Acceptance of Necessity had been granted for procurement of a Fixed-Wing Based High Altitude Pseudo Satellite for the Indian Air Force as part of a wider package of acquisitions worth approximately ₹52,000 crore.

According to the ministry, the FW-HAPS will undertake persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, telecommunications and remote-sensing missions for the Air Force.

The September EoI therefore represents the next practical step following that procurement approval, shifting the programme towards selection of Indian development partners.

A Solar Aircraft That Behaves Like a Satellite

The government’s Make in India Defence portal describes FW-HAPS as a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle intended to operate in the stratosphere.

Unlike a conventional UAV that must frequently return to base for fuel, a HAPS draws energy from solar arrays during daylight hours and stores energy in batteries to continue flying through the night.

The official project description envisages platforms capable of remaining airborne for months or potentially longer periods, effectively allowing them to maintain a persistent position over a geographical area.

Operating much higher than conventional aircraft but lower than satellites allows such a platform to combine some characteristics of both. It can continuously observe an area or act as a communications relay while remaining recoverable and reusable.

Persistent Eyes Above the Battlefield

The principal attraction of a HAPS for the Indian Air Force is persistence.

Conventional reconnaissance aircraft and UAVs eventually need to leave their operating areas to refuel, while satellites pass over a target according to their orbital path unless they operate in geostationary orbit.

A high-altitude pseudo satellite can instead remain above an area of interest for extended periods, providing continuous coverage.

The Ministry of Defence has specifically identified ISR, telecommunications and remote sensing as the principal missions of the FW-HAPS.

Industry reporting on the EoI indicates that the Air Force is also considering the platform as an airborne communications node capable of relaying information between other unmanned aircraft, ground stations and wider military networks.

Such a platform could be particularly useful along India’s extended land and maritime frontiers, where persistent surveillance across remote areas is difficult to maintain using conventional aircraft alone.

Above Conventional Aircraft and Most Weather

HAPS platforms operate in the stratosphere, placing them above most commercial aircraft and much of the weather encountered by conventional UAVs.

The government’s project description places FW-HAPS between conventional unmanned aircraft and satellites in terms of operating environment.

This altitude gives the aircraft a wide field of view and enables long-distance line-of-sight communications while keeping it comparatively close to the areas it is observing.

Current reporting on the IAF requirement indicates that the eventual platform is expected to operate at around 20 km or higher, although detailed performance parameters in the EoI have not been publicly released by the Ministry of Defence.

Indian Companies Enter the Competition

The September 10 announcement is important because the programme is explicitly being pursued as an indigenous design-and-development project rather than simply an off-the-shelf foreign acquisition.

India already has several organisations working on technologies relevant to HAPS.

CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories has been developing solar-powered high-altitude aircraft technologies, while private Indian companies have also begun investing in extremely lightweight airframes, solar propulsion, autonomous flight systems and high-altitude communications.

The government has not publicly disclosed the final list of companies competing under the new EoI. Because the document was initially issued to participants in the feasibility study, the definitive field of development partners should not be assumed until the Air Force or Ministry of Defence identifies them.

The official DDP announcement nevertheless makes clear that companies outside the original feasibility study can express interest and obtain the EoI before October 7.

India Is Pursuing Two Different HAPS Concepts

The fixed-wing programme is also distinct from another ambitious Indian Air Force project involving an Airship-Based High Altitude Pseudo Satellite, or AS-HAPS.

In February 2026, the Defence Acquisition Council separately approved an Airship-Based HAPS for the IAF. The Ministry of Defence said that system would be used for persistent ISR, Electronic Intelligence, telecommunications and remote sensing.

The two concepts use very different vehicles.

FW-HAPS resembles an extremely lightweight, very large-winged solar aircraft. An AS-HAPS instead uses a lighter-than-air stratospheric airship capable of remaining over an operating area for long periods.

Developing both architectures suggests the Air Force is examining a broader family of stratospheric systems rather than depending on a single platform.

Filling the Gap Between Drones and Satellites

The military significance of HAPS lies in the gap it fills between conventional unmanned aircraft and spacecraft.

Satellites provide enormous coverage and strategic reach but are expensive to launch, difficult to reposition rapidly and limited by orbital geometry. Conventional UAVs are much easier to deploy but cannot generally remain over the same region for weeks or months.

A solar-powered stratospheric aircraft can potentially provide satellite-like persistence with aircraft-like recoverability and redeployment.

For the IAF, this could create a persistent layer above the battlefield capable of monitoring troop movements, supporting communications, observing borders, assisting remote sensing and potentially networking other unmanned systems.

Programme Moves From Approval to Competition

The FW-HAPS programme has been under consideration for several years. The government’s Make in India Defence portal records an Approval-in-Principle date of October 14, 2024, showing that preparatory work and feasibility studies preceded the DAC’s formal acquisition approval in July 2026.

With the EoI now issued, the programme has moved another important step forward.

The immediate task will be identifying Indian development partners capable of building an aircraft light enough to operate in the stratosphere while simultaneously carrying solar cells, batteries, communications equipment, autonomous flight systems and useful mission payloads.

Achieving long-duration stratospheric flight remains a major engineering challenge even for the world’s leading aerospace companies.

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