On May 3, 2025, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted maiden flight-trials of a Stratospheric Airship Platform from the Sheopur Trial site in Madhya Pradesh. Developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, Agra, the airship carried an instrumental payload to an altitude of approximately 17 kilometers.
Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, highlighting the system’s potential to enhance India’s earth observation, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. He noted that this innovation places India among the few countries with such indigenous high-altitude airship technology.
DRDO Chairman Dr. Samir V Kamat praised the team and called the trial a milestone in developing lighter-than-air platforms capable of long-endurance operations at stratospheric heights.
