BDL Secures DRDO-NSTL Contract to Develop India’s First Dual-Domain Drone That Can Fly and Dive

New Delhi | Visakhapatnam : State-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has been selected as the L-1 (lowest bidder) for a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) project led by the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam, aimed at designing and developing an Aquatic-Aerial System—a hybrid platform that can operate both as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV).

According to bid-related disclosures circulating in the defence ecosystem, BDL cleared the technical evaluation alongside AquaAirX (Aquaarix) Autonomous Systems, after which BDL emerged as L-1 with a winning bid of INR 69,15,272.

A UAV-cum-UUV with “Seamless Transition”

The Aquatic-Aerial System is being positioned as an unmanned platform with the unique ability to transition between flying in air and operating underwater, enabling mission profiles that could combine rapid aerial repositioning with covert underwater activity—an increasingly sought-after capability for modern maritime and coastal operations.

Open tender documents linked to the NSTL procurement describe the requirement as the “Design, Development and supply of Aquatic-Aerial System” under a GeM Contract, indicating the programme is being executed through India’s government e-marketplace procurement route.

Key Contract Terms: 14-Month Delivery and Milestone Payments

The commercial terms specify a delivery period of 14 months from the date of the GeM Contract/Order, suggesting the first full system could be ready within just over a year of contract activation, subject to development and acceptance trials.

Payments are structured across four milestones, with 20% released after completion of early phases, followed by 30%, 30%, and a final 20% after the concluding phase and acceptance—highlighting that the programme is being monitored through phased progress gates rather than a single end-stage payout.

NSTL to Provide High-Value Sensors as “Free Cost Material”

A notable element of the NSTL commercial package is that the lab is set to provide crucial payloads as Free Cost Material (FCM) for integration during development. The listed items include an Imaging SONAR-FLS (Forward Looking Sonar), Side Scan SONAR, a Doppler Velocity Logger (DVL), and an Acoustic Modem, with the document indicating an aggregate FCM value of Rs. 90,00,000.

This approach signals NSTL’s intent to ensure the prototype is validated with serious underwater navigation and sensing hardware, while pushing the industry partner to focus on vehicle design, integration, controls, and the multi-medium transition challenge.

Warranty, Downtime Cap, and Performance Security

The contract package also builds in sustainment obligations. It specifies a 12-month warranty from final acceptance, with a maximum downtime cap of 15 days during the warranty window, and one additional year of product support after warranty expiry.

For performance security, the seller is required to furnish an ePBG (bank guarantee) of 5% of the contract value, valid until 60 days beyond completion of contractual obligations including warranty—standard practice for sensitive defence deliveries.

Why BDL and NSTL Pairing Matters

NSTL is DRDO’s key naval lab for underwater systems and associated technologies, while BDL has an established production footprint across missiles and underwater weapons. BDL’s own corporate profile notes that it manufactures underwater weapons developed with DRDO support, including systems originating from NSTL—making the pairing operationally familiar for both sides. 

The selection also comes as India accelerates efforts around autonomy in the maritime domain, where DRDO’s NSTL has been active in multiple underwater technology streams in parallel, reflecting a broader push toward indigenous unmanned systems for surveillance and security. 

What Comes Next

With BDL now positioned to collaborate with NSTL/DRDO on the design and development cycle, the next milestones will likely revolve around platform architecture finalisation, systems integration with NSTL-supplied sensors, and controlled demonstrations of the most difficult requirement: reliable air-to-water and water-to-air transition while maintaining command, control, and mission continuity.