Indigenous Glide Weapon System TARA

Indigenous Glide Weapon System TARA

Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Indian Air Force recently conducted the successful maiden flight trial of India’s indigenous glide weapon system, TARA, off the coast of Odisha. The system marks a major step in India’s efforts toward precision-guided indigenous weapon technology and defence self-reliance.

TARA is a modular range-extension kit designed to convert conventional unguided “dumb bombs” into highly accurate precision-guided glide weapons. Developed primarily by Research Centre Imarat with support from other DRDO laboratories, the system uses GPS-enabled inertial navigation and electro-optical targeting technologies. It reportedly achieves an accuracy of nearly 3 metres Circular Error Probability (CEP), comparable to advanced global systems such as Israel’s SPICE glide bomb kits.

The weapon significantly increases strike range, allowing fighter aircraft to attack targets from stand-off distances of 50–70 km, while some advanced configurations may extend beyond 150 km. This reduces the need for aircraft to enter heavily defended enemy airspace, thereby improving pilot and aircraft survivability.