Flying Wedge unveils FWD Supreme as India’s AI combat aircraft programme takes shape

India’s ambition to develop AI-piloted combat aircraft moved into public view on October 13 as Flying Wedge Defence & Aerospace unveiled a full-scale prototype of FWD Supreme Heavy in New Delhi.

The Bengaluru company envisions autonomous aircraft undertaking surveillance, reconnaissance, strikes and collaborative combat. The showcase marks a development milestone.

“FWD Supreme Lite has already crossed taxi trials and is gearing up for the first flight”, founder Suhas Tejaskanda said.

The smaller, approximately 250-kg Lite variant is intended to validate technologies for the wider Supreme family. During the unveiling, Tejaskanda described Supreme Heavy as a 1.5-tonne variant.

The company’s Phase 1 specifications list a payload of approximately 350 kg, range exceeding 1,500 km, satellite communications and endurance exceeding two hours. The proposed flying-wing aircraft incorporates an internal weapons bay and targets high subsonic speeds. These figures remain company-stated development specifications.

Autonomy at scale

Supreme centres on Flying Wedge’s proposed Mobbing Doctrine, under which multiple autonomous aircraft would share information and coordinate operations. The objective is to generate combat mass affordably while allowing surviving aircraft to continue missions after individual losses.

“FWD SUPREME represents our commitment to building advanced defence capabilities through Indian design, engineering and manufacturing. Our ambition is to develop a family of AI-piloted fighter aircraft that combines operational relevance with affordability. Through Operation Triple Seven, we aim to bring together international partners around an India-led development and manufacturing programme, while strengthening our country’s indigenous aerospace capabilities”, Tejaskanda said.

Ownership and innovation

Additional Secretary and Director General Acquisition A. Anbarasu, (Ministry of Defence) linked the unveiling to the government’s defence priorities. He emphasised the concept of “Owned by India” as he minced no words while saying that MoD is not happy with the speed at which business is taking place and speeding up the acquisition process remains at the core of the MoD Acquisition wing.

Flying Wedge describes Supreme as India’s first AI-piloted fighter programme.