Indian Navy's Drishti-10 UAV Crashes in Gujarat, Inquiry Ordered After Second Incident
A Board of Inquiry has been ordered after an Indian Navy Drishti-10 Starliner unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed near Dharampur village in Gujarat's Porbandar district during a routine training sortie on Wednesday (July 8, 2026).
The inquiry will determine whether the crash was caused by a technical malfunction, loss of communication link, or any other system failure. The Navy confirmed on social media that there were no reports of injuries or casualties on the ground. Security agencies have recovered the wreckage and begun a technical examination.
Defence sources indicated that the UAV may have suffered a technical malfunction, though the exact cause will be established only after the inquiry. The Drishti-10 is the Indianised version of Israel's battle-proven Hermes-900 Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV, licence-manufactured by Adani Defence and Aerospace at its Hyderabad facility in partnership with Israel's Elbit Systems.
This is the second mishap involving the Hermes-900-based platform in about 18 months. In January last year, a Drishti-10 being flown by the manufacturer during pre-acceptance trials ditched into the Arabian Sea after reportedly losing its communication link before formal induction. The aircraft was subsequently replaced by the manufacturer.
The Army and Navy contracted two Drishti-10 drones each under the fourth tranche of emergency procurements in 2023 at a cost of around ₹140 crore per aircraft. Designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, the platform has an endurance of up to 36 hours, a payload capacity of 450 kg, and an operating ceiling of 30,000 feet.
The latest crash is expected to renew scrutiny of the platform's reliability as the Navy pursues a proposal to induct 10 more Drishti-10 drones to strengthen persistent surveillance over the Indian Ocean Region, where Chinese naval and survey vessels maintain an expanding presence, defence sources said.
