Role & capabilities
- Tactical observation
- Automatic runway operations
- Configurable mission equipment
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Multirole aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- DRDO / Aeronautical Development Establishment
- Origin / production countries
- India
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Not distinguished in reviewed sources
- Operators / programme customers
- Not identified in reviewed sources
Evidence & current status
Catalogue evidence only. Archer-NG specifications and forecast first-flight dates are not transferred to Archer.
Archer occupies the tactical end of DRDO's uncrewed-aircraft portfolio. Its 2025 export compendium describes a piston-powered aircraft for surveillance and other military payloads, using conventional automatic take-off and landing. The published baseline combines electro-optical observation with a relatively modest aircraft weight and an endurance measured in hours rather than days.
The Archer name should not be used interchangeably with Archer-NG. A specification or test claim for the larger NG programme does not establish the performance of this aircraft. This record therefore follows the named Archer entry in the DRDO catalogue and preserves the catalogue's qualifications, including its configuration-dependent weight.
An export listing establishes that the developer offered the system; it does not establish acceptance by a particular armed service. Publicly verified production quantities, a current operator inventory and a configuration-specific acceptance record remain outstanding. The stated range also lacks enough definition to treat it as a combat radius or a communications limit.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Piston engine using aviation gasoline | Supplier baseline; performance depends on payload and conditions. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Approximately 750 kg in the listed electro-optical configuration | Catalogue configuration weight; not identified here as a universal maximum take-off mass. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | 10–12 hours | Supplier baseline; performance depends on payload and conditions. Source ↗ |
| Range | 250 km (catalogue term) | The source does not establish a mission radius or data-link definition. Source ↗ |
| Speed | Maximum 135 knots / approximately 250 km/h | Supplier baseline; performance depends on payload and conditions. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | 22,000 ft | Supplier baseline; performance depends on payload and conditions. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
Publication history
- — Added in the September 2026 global coverage review, with sources, configuration limits and explicit data gaps.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- DRDO Compendium of Products for Export 2025 (opens in a new tab)Government / developer