- Category
- Latest news
India Expands Arsenal With Belarusian Berkut-BM One-Way Strike Drones
- Authors
![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
India has purchased several dozen Berkut-BM strike drones produced in Belarus by the company Indela, according to Defense Blog on January 18, citing defense industry sources say.
The Berkut-BM is a jet-powered one-way attack drone, designed to rapidly engage high-priority targets before they can move or disperse. It uses compact Chinese-made Swiwin micro turbojet engines, allowing for high-speed strikes and short engagement windows that make interception more difficult.
Every article pushes back against disinformation. Your support keeps our team in the field.
Available specifications indicate the drone can reach speeds of up to 410 km/h and operate at ranges of roughly 150 km, depending on altitude and mission parameters. It is built for fast penetration, steep terminal attack profiles, and accurate strikes against stationary or mobile targets.
As reported by Defense Blog, the system carries a 10-kilogram high-explosive fragmentation warhead intended to neutralize assets such as radar systems, air defense units, artillery positions, and logistical infrastructure. Its design prioritizes missions where rapid destruction is required before targets can relocate.
The Berkut-BM is launched via catapult, enabling operations without runways or fixed facilities. This allows forces to deploy the drones from forward or concealed positions, giving commanders greater flexibility in selecting launch sites close to the frontline.
The reported acquisition comes as India continues to maintain deep defense-industrial ties with Russia and its partners, despite it’s war against Ukraine. In 2025 alone, senior executives from major Indian arms manufacturers traveled to Moscow for talks on potential joint projects with Russian defense companies.
Those discussions, held in late October under the framework of the India–Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation, focused on expanding joint manufacturing, including the production of spare parts for Russian-origin systems such as MiG-29 fighter jets and air defense platforms. Russian officials also proposed establishing production facilities in India capable of supplying equipment both to the Indian armed forces and for export to Russia.
Russia remains India’s largest single arms supplier, accounting for roughly 36% of New Delhi’s military inventory. While India has sought to diversify its defense procurement in recent years, both governments have pledged to shift their long-standing relationship from a traditional buyer-seller model toward deeper joint development and manufacturing arrangements within India.
Earlier, it was reported that an analysis of a Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile identified as “Oreshnik,” also known as “Kedr,” suggests it is not equipped with a system that allows its warheads to be guided independently, according to a specialized Russian military outlet.
Based on the debris, analysts found no evidence that the missile uses a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) guidance system, a technology that enables individual warheads to adjust their flight paths after separating from the missile’s final stage.
-7f54d6f9a1e9b10de9b3e7ee663a18d9.png)
-6c3b6804d5d1bc026263b83d0f587443.png "Ukraine Lifts the Veil on Russia’s Geran-5 Drone—A Hybrid of Foreign Technology")
-caaeaaf729924607c1faaaa187b89a72.png "Ukrainian Soldiers Rescue Owl Trapped in Russian Fiber Optic Net During Combat Mission")
