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Military platforms, drones and new weapons
The platforms that carry military power, and new kinds of weapon: aircraft and their engines, ships and submarines, tanks and artillery, drones and counter drone systems, and directed energy and electronic warfare. Prelims has asked about fifth generation fighters, stealth and drone swarms.
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2026: stealth technology, radar cross-section and radar absorbing material
- Prelims 2025: unmanned aerial vehicles, their landing, hovering and power
Showing 3 of 9 subjects, those that changed from 16 to 31 August 2026.Show all
Micro gas turbine engines
Copy link to Micro gas turbine enginesPrelims and Mains
A drone or a compact missile needs an engine small enough to carry and cheap enough to lose, which is a different problem from powering a fighter. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) unveiled three indigenous engines of that class.
- The NJ-05, NJ-50 and NJ-100 are rated at 5, 50 and 100 kg thrust.
- They are meant for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drone interceptors and compact missiles.
What changed
25 Aug 2026
PIB, 25 Aug 2026: CSIR-NAL unveils indigenous micro gas turbine engines (opens in a new tab)
23 Jul 2026Updatealso in news
- India's first indigenous expendable turbojet of the 350 kg thrust class, designed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment and built by a private firm, was delivered. An expendable engine is built for a single flight, as on a cruise missile or target drone.
Rotating detonation engine
Copy link to Rotating detonation enginePrelims and Mains
An ordinary engine burns its fuel steadily; this one sets off a shock wave and keeps it running round in a circle. An Indian startup demonstrated one at a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) facility in Hyderabad.
- A rotating detonation engine (RDE) burns fuel in a continuous detonation wave travelling around a ring shaped chamber, rather than by steady combustion.
- In theory its thermodynamic efficiency is 10 to 25 per cent higher, which suits rockets and hypersonic missiles.
- Sustaining a stable detonation, and finding materials that survive the heat, remain hard.
- Every such engine is still in research.
What changed
MQ-9B Sea Guardian
Copy link to MQ-9B Sea GuardianPrelims and Mains
Watching an ocean is a matter of endurance rather than speed. India is taking that endurance on lease rather than buying it.
- The Ministry of Defence signed a contract with General Atomics to lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones for the Navy, for 30 months.
- They are high altitude long endurance (HALE) remotely piloted aircraft, built to loiter at height for very long sorties and carrying advanced sensors.
- They are to strengthen maritime domain awareness and surveillance across the Indian Ocean Region.
What changed
Background reading: PIB, 17 Aug 2026: MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones leased for the Navy (opens in a new tab)