Flying Wedge Defence & Aerospace (FWDA) unveiled a static-prototype of the ‘FWD Supreme’ | Photo Credit: Dalip Singh

Bengaluru-based start-up Flying Wedge Defence & Aerospace (FWDA) on Tuesday unveiled a static-prototype of the ‘FWD Supreme’, the country’s first indigenous autonomous fighter jet that attempts to enter the global uncrewed military aircraft development race alongside only three other nations — the US, China, and Turkey.

The configuration of the 1.5 tonne class AI-driven autonomous fighter aircraft has been frozen, and its detailed design is halfway complete, Girish G Dixit, Chief Technology Officer of FWDA, told businessline.

Dixit, a former member of the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) lab team that developed the LCA Tejas, noted that “key technologies will be sourced from a lighter, 250 kg version of the autonomous aircraft which will act as a test bed besides as a standalone product for forces. The two smaller variants in this class have already completed taxi trials and will go for certifications of Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) after rounding up other tests in the next two months.”

A Anbarasu, Additional Secretary & DG (Acquisition) in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), who was present at the launch ceremony, congratulated Flying Wedge for “unveiling such a wonder bird” but suggested the start-up to “move forward in a calibrated and coordinated manner.”

The AI powered autonomous combat aircraft, which can have the option of making it a manned platform as well, will have a payload capacity of 350 kg, and a propulsion of 5 kN thrust, with maximum speed of Mach 0.8 to 0.85. It has been designed to cruise at about 500-600 kmph over a range of 1500 km, as per the profile of the proposed unmanned fighter jet released by the company. 

The endurance of the aerial platform is over 2 hours, Suhas Tejaskanda, Founder & CEO of Flying Wedge said, adding that it will be powered with twin-engines.

Barring the engine and some sensors, Tejaskanda said the entire content will be indigenous. He said that they will be making an effort to power the aircraft with DRDO’s in-house Manik engine but if that does not happen, they would scout for it abroad with Czech aerospace company PBS as one of the probable. “With Manik engine, we will have 80 per cent Indian content and without that, it will come down to 60 per cent,” the CEO informed.

The platform is proposed to have an internal weapon bay and have a kind of paint, offering it stealth qualities. Its approximate dimension is 10x10m, with the underline objective to change the economics of air combat.  

The company has partnered with different academic institutions and industry players for retaining indigenous supply chains for components and assemblies. For instance, it has tied with Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, for quantum application and data encryption. 

To allow it to operate in GPS and EW contested environment, the aircraft will work on “visual odometry” similar to how birds navigate — estimating the 3D position, orientation and egomotion by analysing a sequence of images like sun and moon captured by an onboard camera, Dixit explained.

When asked why the company unveiled the proposed autonomous aircraft model at the static stage itself and not waited for the workable prototype, the CEO stated that “being a start-up pooling funds is a huge challenge. Even the investors want to see comprehensive phased development and quality validation to put in their money in the programme.”

The development of FWD Supreme will alone require $100 million. Out of this, $10 million will go into producing the light version of autonomous fighter aircraft. But, for that we have already raised $7 million, Tejaskanda said on the funding of a rare and complex technological airborne system expected to dominate future warfare. 

The fundraising also involves the Kaal Bhairava programme, the AI-powered medium altitude long endurance (MALE) autonomous combat aircraft which has completed 100 hours of trial flying, he added.  

Published on October 13, 2026