Drishti 10 Starliner drone crashes off Porbandar during Naval pre-acceptance trial by vendor

Known as Hermes 900, the drone is being assembled by Adani Defence and Aerospace which has a tie-up with Israel's Elbit. There would be no losses for Navy as it hadn't been inducted.

A file photo of a Drishti 10 drone. | Western Naval Command / X

New Delhi: A Drishti 10 drone, built by Adani Defence and more commonly known as Hermes 900, has crashed off the Porbandar Coast during pre-acceptance trials of the Indian Navy.

Naval sources said that the drone, which cost about Rs 140 crore and was one of the two bought by the Indian Navy, was ditched—an emergency landing on the water—by the Original Equipment Manufacturer operating it as part of a pre-acceptance trial.

Sources said the drone had been recovered by the vendor and it was conducting an investigation. They added that the Indian Navy would have no financial losses because the drone had not yet been inducted and was not being operated by them.

The Drishti 10 Starliner drone is being assembled by Adani Defence and Aerospace, which has a tie-up with Israeli aviation major Elbit.

While Elbit sells the drone as Hermes 900, Adani has renamed the drone and has claimed over 60 percent indigenous content. However, it is largely believed the critical payload system is Israeli.

The Hermes 900 is an advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform with 36 hours endurance and 450 kg payload capacity.

The drone is a MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) and Adani Defence had previously delivered the Drishti 10 Starliner to the Indian Army as well.

The first Drishti 10 Starliner was delivered to the Indian Navy in January last year and the second to Army in June 2024.

The one that had crashed was delivered in December last year and acceptance was due.

The Navy wanted the Hermes 900 for surveillance as it wanted to reduce the pressure on the P81 aircraft.

The Indian Navy already operates two Sea Guardian drones on lease from the American firm General Atomics and India had in October last year signed a deal for 31 Predator drones, 15 of which will go to the Navy to enhance its surveillance capability.

(Edited by Sanya Mathur)