Indian Navy probing feasibility of drones for reloading VLS at sea

While the practicality of the concept is debatable, the problem statement is among the first public indicators that the Indian Navy is exploring at-sea rearming. The multi-rotor drone will not enable replenishment of strike weapons, with the primary strike missile of the Navy, the BrahMos, weighing close to 3,000 kg. However, the specifications will help replenish MRSAM missiles as well as future SAMs such as VLSRSAM.

The design and development of such a large UAV capable of weathering maritime conditions while maintaining extreme precision will be challenging. The UAV will have to be very large to accommodate the large mandated payload, with most multi-rotor defence UAVs under development in India having payload carrying capability of under 100 kg. Notably, the payload capacity is comparable to that of larger eVTOL aircraft, with India having multiple firms developing such aircraft.

The problem statement is a part of the 14th edition of the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC). DISC is intended to support futuristic technology developments by startups. Navy’s problem statements in DISC 14 have a number of other uncrewed systems including VTOL UAVs for ASW, submersible ISR USVs and long range VTOL multi-role attack drones.

Globally, the US is at the forefront of testing at-sea rearming solutions. These solutions involve replenishment ships transferring the missile to the warship, which uses Transferrable Reload At-sea Method (TRAM) equipment to load the missile into the cell. Earlier this year, General Dynamics unveiled a destroyer tender concept which can reload four destroyers simultaneously. The French Navy is also experimenting with at-sea VLS reloading.