The technology has reached Technology Readiness Level 3, meaning the underlying concept has been demonstrated experimentally but remains well short of a production-ready aircraft system. IIT Madras has nevertheless moved the invention into its technology-transfer portfolio and is offering it for licensing, indicating that the research is now being positioned for possible industrial development.
The two SWiFT-K prototypes have reportedly completed High-Speed Taxi Trials at the Aeronautical Test Range at Challakere. These trials are an important step before flight testing because they allow engineers to examine acceleration, braking, steering, ground stability, structural behaviour and flight-control responses as the aircraft approaches take-off speed.
The significance of the programme lies not simply in producing another artillery system. A mature electromagnetic gun could eventually occupy the space between conventional long-range artillery and expensive guided missiles, delivering high-velocity kinetic projectiles over considerable distances without depending upon the large chemical propellant charges required by traditional guns.
TiHAN and the Andhra Pradesh Drones Corporation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which the IIT Hyderabad hub will serve as a technical and knowledge partner for the Drone City and the wider drone ecosystem being developed in the state.
India’s armed forces are therefore currently using NavIC in conjunction with other global navigation satellite systems. The government has said that the multi-constellation approach prevents existing users from being left without navigation capability while NavIC’s orbital infrastructure is strengthened.
Recent defence reporting in September 2026 says engineering changes to the LUH have produced an approximately 30–40% reduction in overall vibration response, while vibration in a critical vertical range has reportedly fallen by nearly 50%.
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.
The development has been disclosed in BDL’s newly released Annual Report for 2025–26, published in September 2026. The state-owned missile manufacturer lists the ASRAAM Final Assembly, Integration and Testing, or FAIT, facility among major infrastructure expansions that have become fully operational.
N3X Labs founder Shrrinath Navghane disclosed the development from Gandhinagar, Gujarat, where the scaled WRATH prototype was undergoing testing. He confirmed that the demonstrator was subsequently destroyed during the test activity, indicating that the company is using experimental hardware as part of the development process.
DRDO says the suite was jointly developed by CASDIC in Bengaluru and the Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL) in Hyderabad. It combines an indigenous Radar Warning Receiver with the pod-mounted ASPJ.
