Sagar Defence rises from 150 sq ft Mumbai room to Navy's leading swarm boat maker
From a cramped Mumbai room to the high seas
NEW DELHI: A startup that began operations from a tiny 150 sq ft workspace in Mumbai has grown into a full-fledged defence company with major R&D and manufacturing campuses in Pune and Andhra Pradesh.
The success story of Sagar Defence — founded in 2015 by Capt Nikunj Parashar along with co-founders Mridul Babbar, Lakshay Dang, Saurabh Patil, and Ankit Kumar — is replete with failures, hard work and perseverance.
Addressing a gathering at the Indian Navy's 'Swavlamban' Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Seminar here as a guest speaker, Capt Parashar disclosed the personal toll the journey took on him. He said he survived two heart attacks and a paralytic stroke and faced a lot of setbacks while struggling to make the company a success.
From setbacks to the Navy's front line
Sagar Defence is now a leading player for swarm boats, autonomous and unmanned weapons systems to the Indian armed forces, especially the Indian Navy. Similar unmanned or swarm boats have been used by Iran and the US to attack each other and for surveillance purposes during the ongoing West Asia conflict, underscoring the strategic relevance of the technology.
Under the Navy's iDEX 'SPRINT' contract, the Pune-based company has now begun supplying 12 armed unmanned surface vessels (USVs) — including its signature 'Matangi' craft — to the Indian Navy. These high-speed, interceptor boats are equipped with 12.7mm stabilised remote-controlled gun stations, advanced electro-optical radar tracking, and anti-jamming GPS navigation to strike targets autonomously.
They can be used as unmanned boats for surveillance and offensive operations in shallow waters or can even carry marine commandos (Marcos) for special operations. Some of these boats have also been deployed at the Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh by the Army for patrolling.
Beyond the boats
Sagar Defence also produces custom multi-payload quadcopters and hexacopters such as the Spectre and Varuna series, along with a Maritime Spotter Drone designed to land on moving warships.
The Indian company has also partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to co-develop and introduce the 'Point Blank' precision strike missile to India. This is a hand-launched, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) system that acts as a loitering munition for high-speed precision strikes.