HAL CATS Warrior

The HAL CATS Warrior is a low observable, jet-powered loyal wingman drone being developed by the Aircraft Research and Design Centre of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as the unmanned strike component of the Combat Air Teaming System, a programme run with the Indian startup NewSpace Research and Technologies. It is meant to fly alongside a manned fighter acting as its mothership, scouting ahead, absorbing enemy fire or attacking targets with weapons carried in an internal bay and on external pylons, and in a long range mission it can be sacrificed by crashing into its target. A scale model was shown at Aero India 2021 and a prototype at Aero India 2025, after the full-scale demonstrator ran its two PTAE-W turbojet engines on the ground in January 2025. It remains a prototype: HAL was building a 3 tonne version in 2026, and the first flight, once planned for 2024-25, has not yet taken place.