Hyd startups Veera Dynamics, Binford Labs co-develop India's first stealth drones for armed forces
RAMA, which uses nanotechnology and can be applied as a paint or wrapping, works like Harry Potter's 'cloak of invisibility' to enhance the invisibility of military platforms like drones, manned aircraft, or naval vessels across radar and infrared spectrums to avoid detection by the enemy.
It is made from a blend of two different carbon materials that enables it to absorb radar waves, converting them into heat, which is then dissipated at a rate of 1.5 degrees centigrade per second.
This rapid heat dissipation, combined with the material's ability to adapt to ambient temperatures, helps the RAMA coated platform achieve thermal equilibrium, effectively reducing its radar cross-section and thermal signatures.
Sai Teja Peddineni, CEO, Veera Dynamics, told TOI that the material's development was initially spurred by a problem statement from the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) in 2022, which wanted an infrared stealth solution.
While it achieved a 97% IR signature reduction with RAMA, the project quickly evolved to address radar spectrum invisibility as well with an over 90% reduction in radar signature, he said.
'RAMA represents our vision of platform-wide invisibility. It's not just a material – it's a strategic capability for future warfare,' Peddineni added.
The dual stealth drones being co-developed by the two Hyderabad startups have already been tested by the Indian armed forces during field trials post
Operation Sindoor
, B Sidhanth Jain, founder, Binford Research Labs, said.
He said Binford is now integrating RAMA with its autonomous drones that can operate in RF- and GPS-denied environments.
"Our drones, equipped with RAMA, can carry out covert, high-risk missions in contested zones, enhancing their survivability and mission adaptability as it significantly compresses the adversary's detect-to-engage window to near-zero," Jain added.
Both the startups are funded by Union defence ministry's flagship iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) programme, that is managed by the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) and were also initially supported by IIT-Hyderabad.
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