The Nag (“cobra”) is a third-generation, fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) developed by DRDO under India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, designed to defeat modern main battle tanks fitted with explosive reactive armour.[1] The missile forms the basis of an entire family of derivatives spanning tracked, helicopter-launched, man-portable, and air-launched configurations, and reached a major milestone in March 2025 when the tracked Nag Missile System (NAMIS) was formally contracted for induction into the Indian Army.[6]
Nag was conceived in the 1980s as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, the same DRDO initiative that produced the Prithvi, Akash, Agni, and Trishul missile systems, with the goal of giving India an indigenous, lock-on-before-launch anti-armour capability independent of imported systems such as the Konkurs and Milan.[1] Development and testing stretched across more than three decades, encompassing extensive trials of the imaging infrared seeker and tandem HEAT warhead needed to reliably defeat explosive reactive armour. Final user trials of the missile were conducted by the Indian Army at the Pokhran test range in July 2019, after which the system was formally cleared for induction.[1] Since then, DRDO and its production partners have moved successive Nag-family variants through trials toward operational service, culminating in the March 2025 contract for the tracked NAMIS variant.[6]
The baseline Nag missile is 1.834 metres long, 0.158 metres in diameter, and weighs about 44 kg, flying at roughly 230 m/s to engage both static and moving armoured targets in all-weather, day and night conditions.[1] It carries an 8 kg tandem-shaped-charge high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead, in which a precursor charge first defeats a target’s explosive reactive armour before the main charge penetrates the underlying base armour, giving the missile a high kill probability against contemporary main battle tanks.[1] As a true fire-and-forget weapon, Nag uses lock-on-before-launch imaging-infrared guidance, allowing the launch platform to disengage or seek cover immediately after firing rather than having to maintain a guidance link to the target, a significant survivability advantage over older wire- or laser-guided anti-tank missiles.[2]
The Nag family has diversified into five principal derivatives. The Nag Missile Carrier (NAMICA), a modified BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle produced by Ordnance Factory Medak, provides a tracked, armoured launch platform carrying multiple ready-to-fire missiles.[1] HELINA (also designated Dhruvastra in its Air Force-compatible form) is a helicopter-launched variant with extended range of up to roughly 7 km, integrated onto the HAL Rudra and Prachand helicopter platforms and declared ready for induction alongside Dhruvastra in 2023.[5] A man-portable variant, the MPATGM, has continued seeker and warhead trials through the early 2020s to give dismounted infantry a shoulder-fired anti-armour capability. An air-launched version is being developed to replace the missile’s current imaging-infrared seeker with a millimetric-wave active radar seeker for improved all-weather target discrimination. Most recently, an upgraded Nag Mk-2 land variant with extended range of up to roughly 7 km and an improved seeker completed trials in January 2025.[7]
The family comprises the baseline Nag (land/mast-mounted, ~4 km), NAMICA (BMP-2-based tracked carrier), HELINA/Dhruvastra (helicopter-launched, ~7 km), MPATGM (man-portable), an air-launched millimetric-wave radar-seeker derivative in development, and the upgraded Nag Mk-2 (~7 km, improved seeker), which underpins the newly contracted NAMIS (Tracked) production system.[1][7]
On 27 March 2025 the Ministry of Defence signed a ₹1,801.34 crore (about $190 million) contract with Armoured Vehicle Nigam Limited for the tracked Nag Missile System (NAMIS), procured under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category to maximise indigenous content, with the missiles themselves developed by DRDO’s Defence Research & Development Laboratory and manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited.[6] The contract was signed alongside a separate procurement for 5,000 light vehicles as part of the same Aatmanirbhar Bharat-linked acquisition package.[6]
Like several other DRDO-developed guided-weapon programmes, Nag’s roughly three-decade span from initial development to full induction contract drew persistent criticism over schedule delays relative to comparable imported ATGMs such as the Israeli Spike, which India separately evaluated and in part procured during the interim.[2] Supporters of the programme argue that the extended timeline reflects the technical difficulty of developing a reliable imaging-infrared, tandem-warhead, fire-and-forget missile from a standing start, and that the resulting Nag family now gives India full design and production sovereignty over a capability once dependent entirely on Russian and European suppliers.[1]
Nag has not been used in combat. Following the July 2019 Pokhran user trials that cleared it for induction, the missile and its NAMICA carrier have been progressively fielded with Indian Army mechanised and armoured formations, while the helicopter-launched HELINA/Dhruvastra variant has entered service on Rudra and Prachand attack helicopters. The March 2025 NAMIS contract marks the beginning of large-scale fielding of the tracked variant across additional Army anti-tank regiments.[6]
Beyond the original ground-launched, NAMICA-mounted Nag, the programme has grown into a broader missile family sharing a common lineage: a man-portable anti-tank guided missile (MPATGM) for infantry use, and helicopter-launched variants collectively known as HELINA and its improved successor Dhruvastra, giving India’s ground and air forces a common design heritage across multiple anti-armour engagement platforms.[11]
Dhruvastra, the air-launched, third-generation, fire-and-forget version of Nag optimised for HAL-built attack helicopters including the Rudra and the Prachand, was reported as induction-ready in April 2026, offering high-altitude anti-armour capability with claimed penetration of up to 800mm of armour, sufficient to defeat most light and medium armoured vehicles and even many current-generation main battle tanks when engaging from top-attack profiles.[11]
As of January 2025, approximately 300 Nag missiles had been inducted into Army service. A significant contract for the Nag Missile System (NAMIS), covering additional tracked NAMICA carrier platforms, was signed with Armoured Vehicle Nigam Limited (AVNL) on 27 March 2025, marking a further step in modernising the Army’s dedicated anti-tank missile units beyond the original pilot batches.[12]
India is separately developing SANT (Stand-off Anti-Tank Guided Missile), envisioned as a fourth-generation successor to HELINA/Dhruvastra with a substantially extended range of roughly 15-20 km, allowing launch platforms to engage armoured targets well outside the effective range of most short-range air-defence systems — a significant survivability improvement for the launching helicopter or aircraft.[13]
| Type | Anti-Tank Guided Missile |
| Length | 1.834 m |
| Diameter | 0.158 m |
| Weight | ~44 kg |
| Speed | ~230 m/s |
| Range | ~4 km (land); ~7 km (HELINA / Mk-2) |
| Warhead | 8 kg tandem HEAT |
| Guidance | Imaging infrared, lock-on before launch, fire-and-forget |
| Launch platforms | NAMICA (BMP-2 based), Rudra/Prachand helicopters, man-portable (MPATGM) |
| Manufacturer | DRDO (design); Bharat Dynamics Ltd (production) |
| In service | Cleared for induction 2019; NAMIS contracted March 2025 |