India Exports Guided Pinaka Rocket System for First Time, Armenia Receives First Batch

India has officially started exporting guided Pinaka rockets to Armenia — an important milestone in defence ties between the two countries. According to a report by The Times of India, the first shipment was flagged off on Sunday by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The rockets are produced by Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL), a Nagpur-based defence manufacturer. This delivery is significant because it is the first time India has exported the guided version of the Pinaka rocket system to another country.

Sources say the guided Pinaka rockets are built for high precision and can hit targets located more than 70 kilometres away. They offer much better accuracy than the earlier versions currently used by the Indian Army. While the armed forces are still procuring other variants of the Pinaka system, the process of finalising tenders for this guided version is now under way.

So far, Armenian authorities have not made any public statement about the delivery.

During the event in Nagpur, Rajnath Singh also inaugurated SDAL’s new facility for manufacturing medium-calibre ammunition. He stressed the need to expand India’s defence exports and strengthen the country’s domestic defence manufacturing capabilities.

At the same event, Singh confirmed that SDAL’s drone-mounted loitering munition system, known as Nagastra, was used during Operation Sindoor. Speaking about its performance, he said, “The Nagastra made precise hits on the terror targets. I heard that newer versions of the weapons are being made. Who knows we may need to fire the Nagastra again. Our enemy has a rather unpredictable nature.”

SDAL chairman Satyanarayan Nuwal said the company developed Nagastra entirely on its own before offering it to the armed forces. He also highlighted another system created by SDAL called Bhargavastra, an anti-drone weapon designed to counter drone swarms. “SDAL has also developed Bhargavastra, the anti-drone system, which can fire a salvo of 60 mini missiles and bring down a drone swarm. Other systems world over do not have the capacity to fire more than four at a time,” he said.

Apart from rockets and drone-related systems, SDAL has also developed universal air bombs. These bombs are designed to be compatible with multiple aircraft platforms. “The air bombs generally available are compatible with either NATO-designed aircraft or those from Russia and eastern bloc. The universal bombs can be fired from either,” Nuwal explained.

Nuwal also spoke about SDAL’s long-term investment in the defence sector. He said the company has spent over Rs 2,180 crore over more than a decade to build its defence manufacturing infrastructure. Last year alone, SDAL received defence orders worth Rs 256 crore, while its salary expenses reached Rs 190 crore. Despite these figures, Nuwal said making profits was never the primary motivation for entering the defence sector. “However, profitability was not the goal for venturing into the sector,” he said.

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