Drones take flight: India’s place in the defence tech race

New Delhi/ Bengaluru: Within hours of India destroying nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the western neighbour launched hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, attacking nearly 30 Indian civil and military installations. Targets ranged from Thoise and Kargil in the north to Bhuj in the west. Even though Indian armed forces neutralised each one of these attacks, the four-day conflict heralded the entry of drone warfare in South East Asia, bringing closer to home what was being seen in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia so far.

. The Indian Army, Air Force and Navy were alive to the growing importance of drones in modern-day warfare for the last decade. But, the forces began to pay more attention after the September 2019 attack on Saudi Aramco's oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais in eastern Saudi Arabia.

The incident had a profound impact on global oil markets and highlighted the vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure to drone attacks.

. Involving a combination of drones and cruise missiles, the Houthi attack temporarily knocked out 5.7 million barrels per day of Saudi crude production, roughly half of the kingdom's output and about 5% of global oil supply. The disruption led to a significant spike in oil prices and raised concerns about the security of global energy supplies. It also underscored the need for improved defence against drone attacks and highlighted the vulnerability of critical areas and installations.

. Next was the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian Major General, on January 3, 2020, near Baghdad International Airport when he was travelling in a convoy. The two incidents were eye-openers to security forces around the world on the weaponisation of drones and how the unmanned aerial vehicles can be used for the targeted killing of a high-value individual.

. The multi-fold importance of drones in the battlefield, going beyond their traditional roles as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) tools, was firmly established in subsequent Armenia-Azerbaijan and Russia-Ukraine conflicts.

. Both drones and counter-drone systems have been used extensively in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, where the Ukrainian forces successfully dovetailed the UAVs with ground-based weapons, not only to block the mighty Russians but also to expose their vulnerability.

. The Indian armed forces have learned their lessons from these conflicts and have been preparing their strategies and tactics to deal with a situation in which hundreds of drones would be jostling for space to open up a window to attack.

. “It is entirely possible that there will be 1,500 odd drones from our side and an equal number of drones of the enemy, making it a total of 3,000 to 4,000 drones and counter-drone measures in a restricted airspace of 400 sq km. Managing the airspace with so many flying objects, jammers on both sides, and other users of airspace will be a huge challenge,” says a senior Indian Army official.

. Once viewed as a niche capability, drones have now taken centre stage in military operations, proving indispensable for reconnaissance, precision strikes, logistics, and threat neutralisation.

. At the core of such a shift is a strategic emphasis on defence drones that promise to redefine battlefield dynamics and tilt the technological balance in India’s favour.

. Such an operational reality has accelerated India’s pursuit of a robust, indigenous drone ecosystem, powered by public sector innovation, private enterprise, and state-level industrial policies.

. “The big learning for us post Operation Sindoor is how critical it is for drone companies to collaborate with the explosives and armaments industry,” says Agnishwar Jayaprakash, founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace, highlighting a key structural challenge.

. “Drones now are not just about surveillance. They need to carry payloads, drop bombs, and execute kamikaze missions. That requires integration between drone intelligence and explosive intelligence, and such partnerships are rare in India due to regulatory and infrastructure limitations.”

. Garuda Aerospace represents a new breed of Indian defence tech startups that focus deeply on localisation. The company is on track to achieve 75% indigenous content across its platforms in the next three years.

. The Defence Ministry in the last few years has come up with programmes to help private companies, including start-ups, to come up with technologies useful to the armed forces. Many of these projects are related to drone and counter-drone technologies.

. Paras Defence, another big player in the Indian UAV space, is focusing on end-to-end indigenous combat drone solutions. The company manufactures one of the most expensive drone components— UAV cameras — in India.

. “The major pillars of asymmetric warfare are drones and counter-drones. They will primarily become the forefront of any warfare which is going to happen either today, tomorrow or anytime in future. The industry is worth billions of dollars,” notes Ashutosh Baheti, CEO of the anti-drone division at Paras Defence.

. Paras is field-testing hydrogen-powered drones developed in collaboration with Israel’s Heven Drones. Hydrogen fuel cells give longer endurance and better stability.

. The drones, Baheti says, will be able to carry a 30 kg payload and have an endurance of 55 minutes, making them a candidate for better surveillance and mapping. A next-generation version capable of carrying a payload of over 60 kg is in the works.

. The company has already proven its anti-drone systems in emergency trials. Its platform-agnostic approach is geared toward meeting requirements for loitering munitions, tactical drones, and aerial jamming systems, all made in India. “Defending ourselves against drone warfare is not just imperative—it is technologically intensive,” says Amit Mahajan, director at Paras Defence.

. Many other private players from Tata to Adani Defence in the increasingly growing Indian defence market are producing a variety of drones and counter-drones, not only for the military but also for para-military and state police forces.

. One of the most significant milestones in India’s private sector drone evolution is the Abhimanyu Collaborative Combat Aircraft, developed by NewSpace Research & Technologies in collaboration with the Indian Navy. It is India’s first private sector jet-powered drone, designed for high-speed, long-range combat roles and manned-unmanned teaming.

. Abhimanyu is not just a drone, it is a modular, artificial intelligence, machine learning-powered, swarm-capable combat aircraft. With a low radar signature and real-time data relay capabilities, it is purpose-built for high-risk ISR, electronic warfare, and precision strike missions. Mesh networking and edge computing allow it to operate in sync with manned aircraft, forming part of a battlefield kill-mesh — a layered, distributed combat network for overwhelming adversaries.

. India’s public sector aerospace leaders are simultaneously building powerful drone platforms to complement private sector innovation.

. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) features a family of drones designed to team with manned fighter jets like the Tejas. The flagship CATS-Warrior is a stealth UCAV, powered by twin HAL PTAE-7 engines and designed to perform reconnaissance, decoy, and strike roles with minimal radar visibility. It will operate as a “loyal wingman” to manned aircraft, offering real-time battlefield support while protecting human pilots from exposure to enemy fire.

. A full-scale engineering demonstrator was showcased at Aero India 2025, and its first flight is targeted for 2026.

. HAL is also developing the Optionally Manned Combat Aircraft — a modified Kiran Mk-II capable of unmanned operation—and a Rotary UAV, designed for cargo transport and ISR roles in mountainous terrain, such as the Himalayas.

. National Aerospace Laboratories also contributes to the tactical drone portfolio. The Bengaluru-based CSIR laboratory has developed Suchan, a 5-kg fixed-wing UAV with a 90-minute endurance; Quad, Hex, and Octa-Copters for ISR, payload delivery, and border surveillance. The NAL has also developed Q-Plane, a hybrid eVTOL drone tested over the Arabian Sea, with a range of up to 40 km and will soon launch its High-Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS), designed for 20 km altitude ISR and telecom relay.

. NAL’s Loitering Munition UAVs, powered by Wankel engines and designed for 1,000 km range and six to nine hours endurance, are among the most promising strategic weapons under development. The Tatas have already delivered 100 such munitions to the army, but the requirement is more.

. The Defence Research and Development Organisation has come out with several UAVs, and there are reports that its TAPAS-BH-201/Rustom-II UAV was used for surveillance before Operation Sindoor was launched in the early hours of May 7.

. In the wake of Operation Sindoor, the armed forces’ requirements for different types of drones have gone up. The Indian Army has been evaluating various UAV-based systems at Pokhran Field Firing Ranges, Babina Field Firing Ranges, and Joshimath currently.

. The platforms undergoing evaluation are unmanned aerial systems, UAV-launched precision-guided munition, runway-independent remotely piloted aerial systems, counter-UAS solutions, loitering munitions, specialised vertical launch drones, precision multi-munition delivery systems, integrated drone detection and interdiction systems, low-level light-weight radars, IR Systems, and electronic warfare platforms.

. Earlier this week, the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen Upendra Dwivedi, visited Babina to review the process and talk to the companies. The army is on the lookout for more such systems, like ground-based counter-UAS and manpack counter-UAS, nano-drones for surveillance and logistics drones.

. Challenges

. What challenges do companies face in the development process? Testing infrastructure, for example, is an issue: “You can fly a normal drone anywhere, but testing drones with explosive payloads? That is a challenge as there are very few authorised testing ranges,” says Jayaprakash of Garuda Aerospace.

. Chief of the Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan has recently flagged a need to develop holistic counter-drones for the armed forces as the unmanned aerial systems are turning increasingly disruptive by absorbing celerity, AI and robotics.

. “The future of the defence drone industry is undeniably transformative. Our drones must have electronic countermeasures like anti-jamming, frequency hopping. Otherwise, in real warfare, they won’t survive. That is where the defence tech bar is rising,” says Jayaprakash.

. The industry players point out that the sector requires more infrastructural support, particularly for the drones used in civilian tasks. “We need drone ports and drone corridors besides favourable policies from state governments,” says Kiran Raju, founder and CEO of Indrajaal, a company specialising in counter-drone solutions.

. Indrajaal has a specialised product line designed to safeguard high-value critical infrastructure such as nuclear power plants, oil refineries, ports, airports, and energy grids from drone-based attacks. This has already been deployed in the Pune airport.

. The company claims its counter-UAS system is operational at a naval port in Gujarat, following successful trials during recent cross-border escalations. Deployment is also underway at Karwar.

. Chinese components

. Another challenge for Indian drone and counter-drone makers is to get rid of Chinese components in products meant for the military. There have been cases of the Indian Army rejecting contracts after discovering such components in products meant for its use.

. Echoing the concern about long-term sustainability, Mahajan also emphasises the importance of local innovation. “The ecosystem is gradually building up. We are designing some of those sub-systems and sub-circuits in-house to make the supply chain fully indigenous,” observes Baheti.

. Finally, Agnishwar points to the ecosystem’s maturity: “Unlike five years ago, drones are no longer seen as hobby tools. But for true growth, the sector needs cross-industry collaboration, extensive field testing, and continuous sensitisation—this is not just about drones any more; it is about national security.”

Drones take flight: India’s place in the defence tech race

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