On Sept. 23, 2026, India’s Defence Ministry signed an ₹810.79 crore contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited for 160 satellite-guided Smart Anti-Airfield Weapons (SAAW) and support gear for the IAF, under the strictest “made in India” category (about 60% indigenous content, more parts to follow). Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh attended.

DRDO-led SAAW, cleared for IAF and Navy purchase in 2020 after tests from 2016–18, is described as India’s first fully home-grown anti-airfield glide weapon. The government says the IAF used it in combat for the first time during Operation Sindoor after the May 2025 Pahalgam attack; Rajnath Singh later praised locally made systems. Integration is planned across several current and future IAF types.

DRDO in 2025 began a longer-range powered follow-on; the piece frames the order as industrial and political confidence that pilots can strike from standoff range and return. This summary does not describe design, warhead, or employment methods.

Picture a fighter pilot crossing into hostile skies at night. Every kilometre closer to an enemy airbase means more radars searching for the aircraft and more missiles waiting to launch. Now imagine that pilot releasing a weapon a full 100 kilometres away, turning safely for home, and letting the weapon finish the job on its own. That is the promise of the Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon, or SAAW, and it has just earned a powerful vote of confidence from the nation that built it.

On September 23, 2026, the Ministry of Defence signed a........

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