Bengaluru AI warfare & defence startup tests India's first autonomous swarm interceptor

Bengaluru based AI warfare and defence startup Flying Wedge Defence & Aerospace (FWDA) has successfully tested India’s first autonomous swarm interceptor, FWD YAMA.

Designed for counter-UAS, air defence, and Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) missions, the development comes as militaries worldwide confront the growing threat of low-cost drones overwhelming expensive air defence systems. In recent conflicts, Iranian drones costing under $20,000 have been used to pressure U.S. Patriot interceptor systems cost over $4 million per launch, exposing what analysts describe as a widening economic imbalance in air defence.

Flying Wedge said its interceptor could enable aerial interception at up to 100 times lower cost than conventional missile-based systems, with a projected unit cost of about $10,000 depending on configuration.

“Recent global conflicts have demonstrated how low-cost drones can impose disproportionately high costs on traditional air defence systems, making one thing clear- that the next war will be won by superior anti-drone systems”. Suhas Tejaskanda, Founder and CEO, Flying Wedge Defence & Aerospace, said.

Developed in response to the rapidly evolving realities of modern warfare, FWD YAMA integrates artificial intelligence, precision-kill capability, swarm coordination, and network-centric integration to counter aerial threats ranging from micro-drones to larger unmanned systems, a company statement said.

The platform is powered by Flying Wedge’s proprietary autonomy stack, designed for integration across multiple aerial defence platforms, including unmanned systems and precision-guided munitions, enabling autonomous navigation, targeting, and engagement.

According to the company, once cued by radar or surveillance systems, FWD YAMA can independently detect, classify, prioritise, track, and engage aerial threats without human intervention. The system integrates radar-based cueing, multi-sensor data fusion, electro-optical and vision-based terminal tracking, and autonomous engagement logic to enable precision interception.

The platform is also designed for integration with Flying Wedge’s Kaalabhairav UAV series, enabling air-to-air defensive operations and extended engagement ranges.

“FWD YAMA is engineered to enable precision aerial interception at a projected cost that can be up to 100 times lower than conventional missile-based air defence systems. This enables sustained defence against drone swarm attacks without depleting high-value strategic missile inventories while strengthening India’s sovereign capability and contributing to the country’s self-reliance in advanced air defence technologies,” Tejaskanda added.

Engineered to operate in GPS-denied and communication-contested environments, including under electronic warfare and jamming conditions, the platform supports coordinated swarm deployment, enabling multiple interceptors to autonomously distribute targets and execute cooperative engagements. The system is capable of neutralising threats as small as micro-drones, including DJI Mini-class platforms, while retaining scalability against larger unmanned aerial systems.

Beyond ground-based deployment, FWD YAMA has been designed for airborne integration. The company confirmed compatibility pathways with its Kaalabhairav UAV series, enabling air-to-air defensive operations and extended engagement envelopes. The platform architecture also supports Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) roles, enabling autonomous detection and precision neutralisation of hostile air defence nodes in contested environments.

This development aligns with India’s push for indigenous defence innovation and reduced dependence on imported air-defence systems.