It is called the PALM 400 — acronym for ‘precision attack loitering munition’ — and is designed to fly over armoured vehicle concentrations, or areas where they are expected.

When the armoured vehicles arrive in this ‘kill zone’, each PALM 400 picks out its target and fires an armour-penetrating projectile, penetrating it from the top where its armour protection is the least.

In mid-February, another PALM RPV passed a gruelling set of trials in the extreme altitudes of Sikkim.