It will team up with existing and future fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) including Tejas, AMCA, TEDBF, Su-30MKI and Jaguar which will act as its mothership.

As per Arup Chatterjee, Director of HAL Engineering, Research & Development division the integration with CATS MAX mothership will take 1-2 years and first flights is scheduled for 2024-25.

[8] On 11 January 2025, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) successfully conducted the engine ground run of a full-scale demonstrator of the aircraft.

[3] It has a composite structure with an internal weapon bay & hybrid design whose front section looks like MQ-28 Ghost Bat wingman & from its mid fuselage to its tail like XQ-58 Valkyrie.

[5] Avionics — It will be equipped with an electro-optic/infrared payload, Active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, inertial navigational unit, and a jammer for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and combat operations.

The engine variant also features a new FADEC system and an enhanced time between overhauls (TBO) of 1,000 hours with a thrust output of 380 kgf (3.7 kN) and a specific fuel consumption of 1.15 kg/kg.f/hr.

[10][3] Its exhaust will feature chevron nozzle design similar to the F-35 to reduce the Jet blast noises & radar emissions.