Indian Navy Drone Crashes in Gujarat as Military Aviation Mishaps Continue

PORBANDAR, GUJARAT - An Israeli-made Drishti-10 Starliner UAV, operated by the Indian Navy, crashed near Dharampur village in Gujarat's Porbandar district on Wednesday during a routine training sortie, marking the second crash involving the Hermes-900-based platform in 18 months .

🚨🇮🇳 BREAKING

An Israeli-made UAV drone operated by the Indian Navy has crashed in Dharampur, Gujarat.

Indian Air Force jet crashes have become routine, and now even Indian drones are crashing — a major embarrassment. pic.twitter.com/S04rWDFM6J

- Zard si Gana (@ZardSi) July 8, 2026

The remotely piloted aircraft had taken off from the Naval Air Enclave at Porbandar before going down in an open field approximately 6 kilometers from the coastal city . The Indian Navy confirmed the incident, stating that no injuries or loss of life were reported on the ground .

Second Drishti-10 Crash Raises Reliability Concerns

The Drishti-10, manufactured by Adani Defence and Aerospace under a partnership with Israel's Elbit Systems, is the Indianised variant of the battle-proven Hermes-900 platform . This is the second crash involving the platform in recent months - in January 2025, a Drishti-10 being flown by the vendor during pre-acceptance trials ditched into the Arabian Sea after reportedly losing its communication link .

"The twin incidents in 18 months will renew scrutiny of the platform's reliability at a time when the Navy is pursuing a case to induct 10 more Drishti-10 drones," sources in the defence establishment said .

A Pattern of Military Aviation Mishaps

The drone crash adds to a growing list of Indian military aviation incidents that have raised concerns about operational safety and equipment reliability. In recent weeks alone:

• A Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet crashed in Assam's Karbi Anglong district during a routine training mission in June 2026, killing two pilots .

• An An-32 transport aircraft crashed while landing at Jorhat airbase in Assam, killing five personnel .

• A Tejas fighter jet crashed at the Dubai Air Show in July 2026, resulting in the fatal injury of Wing Commander Namansh Syal .

The An-32 crash marks the third major incident involving the aging Russian-made transport aircraft in the Northeast since 2009, with statistics showing approximately 22 accidents involving the platform since 1986 .

Reliability Questions Mount

With the Navy eyeing 10 more Drishti-10 drones for persistent surveillance of the Indian Ocean Region, the latest crash raises questions about the platform's reliability at a critical time . The Drishti-10 is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV with an endurance of 36 hours, a payload capacity of 450 kg, and an operating ceiling of 30,000 feet .

A board of inquiry has been constituted to establish whether a technical malfunction or loss of data link caused the crash .