The government Wednesday signed a Rs 810.79-crore contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for the procurement of 160 Satellite Smart Anti-Airfield Weapons (SAT-SAAW) and associated equipment for the Indian Air Force, in a move aimed at strengthening its precision-strike capabilities.
The contract was signed in New Delhi in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh under the ‘Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)’ category, the Defence Ministry said. Deliveries of the weapons are scheduled across 2027-28 and 2028-29.
Long-range precision strike
Indigenously designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the SAT-SAAW is an air-to-ground precision-guided glide bomb designed specifically to attack targets at enemy airfields from a long stand-off range.
The weapon can be launched from aircraft including the Jaguar, Hawk and Su-30MKI, allowing the launch platform to engage targets without having to fly directly over heavily defended areas.
Its induction is expected to strengthen the IAF’s ability to target critical airfield infrastructure while enabling its aircraft to operate from safer distances.
The Defence Ministry said the induction would enhance the IAF’s operational capability to continue unhindered operations and strengthen the country’s defence preparedness.
60 per cent indigenous content
The SAT-SAAW will have indigenous content of 60 per cent, with the government also pushing the domestic production of several important sub-systems.
These include the initial measurement unit, long-impact delay fuse and twin-store carrier. The ministry said their indigenisation would further strengthen the government’s push for greater self-reliance in defence manufacturing.
The latest order also expands BDL’s role in supplying advanced indigenous weapon systems to the armed forces, while providing production support for a weapon developed domestically by the DRDO.
The procurement of 160 SAT-SAAWs gives the IAF another precision-strike option for missions aimed at disabling enemy airfields and associated infrastructure. The weapon’s stand-off capability is particularly significant as modern air-defence environments increasingly require combat aircraft to launch precision weapons from outside the immediate engagement range of hostile defences.
With deliveries scheduled to begin in 2027-28, the contract will take the indigenous weapon from development into larger-scale induction with the IAF.