In a significant milestone, Apollyon Dynamics, a startup founded by two engineering students from BITS Pilani's Hyderabad campus, has successfully supplied its radar-proof kamikaze drones to the Indian Army.
The startup's cutting-edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been sold to Army units stationed in Jammu, Chandimandir (Haryana), Panagarh (West Bengal) and Arunachal Pradesh. This achievement marks a major breakthrough for student-led innovation in India's defense technology sector.
The students managed to sell their product to the Army merely within two months of launching their startup.
The duo said their motive behind launching this startup was to make India self-reliant and reduce dependency on foreign defence equipment.
Jayant Khatri, a mechanical engineering student and his partner Sourya Choudhury made these drones for the Indian terrain. They pitched their product to the Indian Army through LinkedIn.
Khatri shared that the journey began with a series of cold emails sent in hopes of attracting buyers. Their breakthrough came when a colonel responded and invited the team to Chandigarh for a demonstration. After multiple rounds of successful demos, orders started flowing in, marking the official birth of their startup.
Key Features of Their Kamikaze Drone
The team has developed a high-speed Kamikaze drone capable of reaching speeds exceeding 300 km/h — nearly five times faster than conventional commercial UAVs. It can deliver a 1 kg payload with exceptional accuracy and remains undetectable by radar systems.
The six-member team of students is now working in the direction to develop advanced VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) and fixed-wing drone platforms. These innovations aim to enhance operational flexibility across varied terrains.
BITS professor hails achievement
Professor Sanket Goel of BITS Pilani praised the students’ accomplishments, noting the startup’s rapid progress and impact. "It's heartening to see what they've achieved. Their start-up has already secured multiple orders from the armed forces,” media reports quoted him as saying.
