ideaForge launches hybrid and UCAV variants of Zolt UAV

India's ideaForge unveiled hybrid-powered intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and battery-powered combat versions of its Zolt drone on October 6. The hybrid model combines a combustion engine with batteries and offers company-stated endurance exceeding six hours, a 100-kilometre line-of-sight operating radius and operation at 4,000 metres. The existing battery-powered vertical-take-off-and-landing model has stated endurance above three hours, a 50-kilometre radius and a 3,500-metre operating altitude. Indian Army deliveries are already under way against multiple contracts, although the announcement does not clearly assign those orders to the new variants, and a further high-altitude configuration remains in development.