HoverIt Builds 55,000-Sq-Ft Lucknow Facility to Scale Indigenous Divyastra Loitering Munition Production

Lucknow-based defence technology company Kawa UAV Pvt. Ltd., operating under the HoverIt brand, is building a dedicated 55,000-square-foot UAV manufacturing and research facility at the Lucknow node of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor, marking its transition from a comparatively small defence startup into a company preparing for larger-scale production of indigenous unmanned systems.

The new facility is expected to support the development, integration and production of HoverIt’s next-generation UAV portfolio, with the Divyastra family of loitering munitions at the centre of its strike-system programme. Invest UP has separately confirmed that HoverIt is preparing to commence production operations from the Lucknow node of the defence corridor by the end of 2026, providing official backing to the company’s broader manufacturing expansion.

The expansion comes as the Divyastra programme advances rapidly from development into increasingly complex flight testing. HoverIt has developed the Divyastra series as an indigenous family of unmanned systems capable of combining reconnaissance, autonomous navigation and precision-strike functions. The company has already demonstrated the Divyastra Mk1 before senior Indian Army leadership and has been progressing successive versions aimed at greater range, speed and mission flexibility.

The most significant development so far came on August 11, 2026, when HoverIt successfully conducted the maiden flight of the Divyastra Mk3, a jet-powered loitering munition developed around an Indian-made turbojet engine supplied by domestic propulsion company DG Propulsion. HoverIt says the programme progressed from inception at the beginning of 2026 to its first flight within the same calendar year.

According to HoverIt’s official programme announcement, the Mk3 combines an Indian-designed airframe with indigenous propulsion, autonomous flight-control technology and an AI-enabled target-engagement architecture. The company has stated that the aircraft does not rely on an imported jet engine or foreign-sourced critical subsystem, making the propulsion breakthrough particularly important from a defence-indigenisation perspective.

DG Propulsion’s contribution is significant because propulsion remains one of the most difficult elements of high-speed unmanned aircraft to localise. The engine integrated with Divyastra Mk3 met the predetermined parameters during the maiden flight, according to HoverIt. Successful integration of an Indian turbojet with an Indian unmanned strike platform moves the programme beyond simple airframe localisation and towards a much deeper indigenous technology stack involving propulsion, flight control, autonomy, mission software and system integration.

That distinction gives the programme a strong Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat dimension. Indigenous defence manufacturing becomes strategically more valuable when Indian companies control critical technologies rather than merely assembling imported subsystems. A domestic ecosystem capable of producing the airframe, propulsion, electronics, software and mission systems of a loitering munition can reduce exposure to foreign supply disruptions while allowing systems to be modified more quickly for Indian operational requirements.

The 55,000-square-foot Lucknow facility is important in this context because India’s defence-startup ecosystem now faces a different challenge from the one it confronted a few years ago. Developing prototypes is only the first stage. Military users ultimately require repeatable manufacturing quality, dependable supply chains, testing infrastructure, maintenance support and the ability to produce systems in meaningful numbers. HoverIt’s investment in a larger manufacturing and R&D base represents an attempt to bridge this gap between prototype development and industrial production.

Its location inside the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor also places the company within one of India’s principal defence-manufacturing clusters. The corridor has six nodes at Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Agra, Aligarh and Chitrakoot and was created to encourage domestic defence production, develop supply chains and reduce dependence on imported aerospace and military equipment. Lucknow is increasingly emerging as an important node for missiles, propulsion, aerospace components and unmanned systems.

For HoverIt, this ecosystem could allow the Divyastra programme to draw on specialised manufacturers, engineering talent, testing facilities and other defence companies operating within the corridor. It also illustrates how India’s defence industrial policy is beginning to create clusters in which established manufacturers, specialised component suppliers and younger technology companies can operate within the same regional supply chain.

Loitering munitions themselves have become an increasingly important part of modern warfare because they occupy the space between conventional reconnaissance drones and guided missiles. They can remain airborne while searching or waiting for a target and subsequently transition into a precision-strike role. Their relatively compact launch infrastructure and ability to combine surveillance with attack make them particularly useful for dispersed battlefield formations.

Jet propulsion could add another dimension by enabling higher-speed attack profiles compared with conventional electrically or piston-powered loitering systems. Higher speed can shorten the interval between target detection and impact and potentially make interception more difficult. However, the eventual operational capabilities of the Divyastra Mk3 will depend on further testing and validation rather than the maiden flight alone.

HoverIt therefore still has important milestones ahead. No publicly confirmed large-scale procurement order, production quantity or formal service induction for Divyastra Mk3 has yet been announced. The 55,000-square-foot expansion should consequently be viewed as the creation of manufacturing capacity for the programme and HoverIt’s wider UAV portfolio rather than evidence that mass induction has already begun.

Nevertheless, the combination of an expanding domestic manufacturing base, an indigenous loitering-munition family and the successful integration of an Indian turbojet demonstrates the changing character of India’s private defence industry. Companies that began by developing relatively small unmanned platforms are increasingly attempting more complex systems involving autonomous guidance, long-range strike and indigenous propulsion.

HoverIt can successfully carry the Divyastra family through further military evaluation and into serial production, the new Lucknow facility could become another example of Make in India evolving from component substitution into complete indigenous weapon-system development. The larger significance lies not merely in manufacturing another drone, but in building the domestic engineering, propulsion, software and production ecosystem required for India to design and manufacture advanced unmanned strike systems on its own terms.

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Official / Primary References

1. Saurav Singh Bhadauria — Founder/Director, HoverIt
Confirms that HoverIt is building a dedicated 55,000 sq ft UAV manufacturing and R&D facility at the Lucknow node of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor to scale development and production of next-generation unmanned systems.
Founder’s official statement on LinkedIn

2. Invest UP — Government of Uttar Pradesh
Official state investment agency confirms that HoverIt–Kawa UAV Pvt. Ltd. is set to begin production operations from the Lucknow node of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor by the end of 2026 and identifies Divyastra Mk-1 and Mk-2 as its indigenous loitering-munition platforms.
Invest UP official announcement

3. HoverIt — Official Website
Provides official information on the company, its Lucknow Defence Corridor location and the Divyastra family of indigenous tactical strike systems.
HoverIt official website

4. HoverIt — Official Divyastra Mk3 Press Release
Confirms the August 11, 2026 maiden flight of the Divyastra Mk3, developed by HoverIt/Kawa UAV and powered by an indigenous jet engine from DG Propulsion.
HoverIt official press release

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