Armed forces to test drones, counter-drone systems during key exercise in October

New Delhi: Four months after Operation Sindoor, India plans to hold its biggest military exercise next month involving drones and counter-drone systems with the objective of making the air-defence systems “fully robust”, senior officials said here on Tuesday.

To be conducted at a base in Madhya Pradesh between Oct 6-10, Exercise Cold Start will involve all the three services, defence research establishment and industry.

"We will be testing some of our drones and counter-drone systems during this exercise, so that we can make our air defence system and counter-UAS completely robust," Air Marshal Rakesh Sinha, Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Ops) HQ Integrated Defence Staff said on the sidelines of a conference.

"We have told the industry what kind of capability we need in the area of counter drones. Our industry partners were told to remain two steps ahead,” he said.

An official described it as the biggest such domestic exercise since the Pakistan conflict, and said it would involve recreating some of the drone warfare that took place in May.

Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee said he had been assured by the industry body PHDCCI that more than 10,000 drones would be available in the next 5-6 years in line with the technology road map prepared by the IDS.

After India's precision strikes on several terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) under Operation Sindoor, several drone attacks were launched as counter-offensives by the Pakistani side, targeting the western sector.

"Operation Sindoor, per se, has given us a warning as well as an opportunity to accelerate our counter-UAS, so that we do not learn the lessons the hard way, when we are faced with the next engagement. Therefore, we must turn our lessons into actions, collaboration, innovation and unwavering focus to enhance our operational effectiveness," Air Marshal Sinha said.