By Bheem Rathore · Page 2
131 posts · Page 2 of 5FPV drone pilots in India and the three pipelines feeding the target
FPV drone pilots in India will not emerge from a single training pipeline. The lakh-pilot target stated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2022 spans three different ecosystems. Those are the Indian Army's tactical drone force, the civilian Remote Pilot Certificate pool, and an FPV operator segment with no dedicated certification.
Read article →Operation Sindoor and the Rise of Drone Warfare in India
Operation Sindoor was an Indian military operation launched on 7 May 2025 following the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The operation targeted terrorist infrastructure at multiple locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). India used precision-guided weapons against designated militant facilities during the campaign. The operation focused on counter-terrorism objectives while seeking to limit civilian casualties and prevent wider military escalation. It became a significant episode in India-Pakistan military relations.
Read article →Tracing the Indian Navy USV journey from prototype to platform
The Indian Navy USV story has crossed from concept to operational reality. An Indian Register of Shipping-certified Autonomous Fast Interceptor Boat, three Defence Acquisition Council approvals, and a fifteen-year roadmap now sit within the force-development pipeline. This article separates operational platforms from trials programmes, procurement approvals, and roadmap ambitions.
Read article →AUVs in India: the indigenous programme by mass class and mission
AUVs in India have moved from one-off lab prototypes to a three-class indigenous programme covering man-portable, medium, and high-endurance platforms. The November 2025 MP-AUV milestone closed the man-portable tier, while HEAUV and Neerakshi established the remaining architecture across endurance and mission bands.
Read article →Mapping DRDO HEAUV across India's underwater warfare future
The High Endurance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HEAUV) is a long-endurance autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) developed by DRDO's Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL) to strengthen India's underwater warfare capabilities. This 6-ton unmanned submarine combines modular payloads with autonomous navigation for missions including anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, seabed mapping, hydrographic surveys, and persistent maritime surveillance. The platform is 8.75 metres long, 1 metre in diameter, and designed to operate at depths of up to 300 metres.
Read article →The D-4 anti-drone system: BEL's flagship counter-UAS shield
The D-4 anti-drone system is the first indigenously developed counter-UAS platform inducted across the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force. It was designed by four DRDO laboratories and produced by Bharat Electronics Limited. After Operation Sindoor and the Chief of Defence Staff's July 2025 indigenisation call, it now sits at the centre of India's grid-integrated counter-drone architecture.
Read article →DRDO Daksh: India's flagship bomb disposal robot and its wider family
DRDO Daksh, India's flagship bomb disposal robot, has carried the Indian Army's counter-IED workload since December 2011 and now anchors a wider family of remotely operated vehicles from R&DE(E) Pune. The IS 19445:2025 bomb disposal standard, released in December 2025, places that family inside India's first formal benchmark for explosive ordnance disposal hardware.
Read article →Robotic mules and quadruped UGVs in Indian Army service
Robotic mules are now in active Indian Army service, with 100 quadruped Multi-Utility Legged Equipment platforms inducted under the fourth emergency procurement tranche. A parallel indigenous prototype has been publicly demonstrated at DRDO's Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) Pune. This is the doctrinal, procurement, and platform story behind India's first operational legged-robot programme.
Read article →Bhargavastra counter-drone system: India's micro-missile answer to swarm threats
The Bhargavastra counter-drone system marks India's first micro-missile-based answer to large-scale drone swarms. With the Indian Army issuing Project Sanction Orders in early June 2026, the platform moves from trial range to induction pipeline. This brief decodes the sensor stack, the kinetic layering, and the Akashteer integration that define its place in India's layered air defence grid.
Read article →Drones in real estate: the marketing compliance map for Indian developers
Drones in real estate have moved from premium marketing add-on to default expectation across Indian property listings. Every aerial shoot now sits at the intersection of aviation regulation, advertising law, and data privacy obligations. The compliance burden extends beyond the drone operator and reaches the developer commissioning the footage.
Read article →The Bhairav Drone Force Is Rewriting Indian Army Combat Doctrine
Bhairav Force is an emerging Indian Army formation focused on rapid, technology-enabled combat and drone warfare. The force is designed to strengthen tactical capabilities across surveillance, reconnaissance, and precision operations. Its structure emphasizes integrated drone capabilities, trained personnel, and rapid battlefield response. Bhairav units are being developed for challenging operational environments, including border sectors. The initiative reflects the Indian Army’s broader shift toward drone-enabled, networked, and multi-domain warfare.
Read article →GPS spoofing in Indian defence drones and the case for GNSS alternatives
GPS spoofing in Indian defence drones is no longer a theoretical electronic warfare problem. The September 2025 Dehradun trials transformed it into a procurement requirement after indigenous systems struggled in GPS-denied conditions. The response across India's defence ecosystem is a layered navigation architecture built on NavIC, inertial systems, vision-aided fixes, and antenna hardening.
Read article →Jam-Resistant Drones Are Redefining Battlefield Survivability
Jam-resistant drones are designed to maintain reliable operations when GPS, radio, or control signals face electronic interference. These systems use anti-jamming technologies, alternative navigation methods, fiber-optic communication, and autonomous flight capabilities. Some drones can continue missions without continuous satellite navigation or conventional radio links. Their resilience makes them valuable for defence, surveillance, and operations in environments where electronic warfare, signal disruption, or GPS denial can affect conventional drones.
Read article →Drone industry statistics India: market size and growth from primary government data
Drone industry statistics India is a story of diverging forecasts and converging government records. Analyst estimates vary sharply on market size. Primary government data tells a clearer story. The Ministry of Civil Aviation, the DGCA, the Ministry of Defence, and Parliament publish records on operator growth, industrial capacity, defence demand, and scheme adoption.
Read article →Drones vs traditional air power, how India's doctrine draws the line
Drones vs traditional air power is the question every defence ministry now confronts. The CDS and the IAF Chief have answered it for India. Unmanned systems extend the air-power envelope, while the FY26 procurement record shows India buying both fleets in parallel.
Read article →India's 100K-Drone Force: Inside the Army's Modernisation Strategy
India's 100K-drone force is no longer a slogan. It is the arithmetic output of the Defence Forces Vision 2047 Drone Force concept. The Indian Army's corps-level expansion model and the procurement plus industrialisation chain fund it. The Era of Transition gives the project a defined timeline and measurable milestones.
Read article →GST on drones in India: what the 5% rate cut delivers
GST on drones in India dropped to a uniform 5% on 22 September 2025. The change replaces the fragmented 5%, 18%, and 28% slabs that had shaped the sector since 2017. The reform reshapes acquisition costs, working-capital requirements, and tax treatment across the commercial UAS ecosystem while raising fresh questions for manufacturers.
Read article →Mapping AI battle management in India and where the gap sits
AI battle management in India is no longer a concept on a roadmap. It is an operational architecture built from air-defence networks, tactical command systems, surveillance platforms, and defence AI programmes. The question is not whether the systems exist. The question is how the nodes connect into a shared operational picture.
Read article →India’s Self Reliant Drone Ecosystem and the Road to Strategic Autonomy
India’s indigenous drone manufacturing industry is growing rapidly, supported by government policies and rising demand across multiple sectors. The PLI Scheme, import restrictions, and DigitalSky platform have strengthened domestic drone production and regulatory compliance. More than 800 drone startups and manufacturers are building capabilities across defence, agriculture, infrastructure, and logistics. With increasing investments and technology development, India aims to establish itself as a global drone manufacturing hub by 2030.
Read article →Akashteer India’s Automated Air Defence Network and Battle Management System
Akashteer is an indigenous automated Air Defence Control and Reporting System (ADCRS) developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the Indian Army. It integrates radar systems, sensors, and air defence weapons into a unified network. The system provides real-time situational awareness and supports coordinated responses to aerial threats. Akashteer strengthens low-level airspace monitoring and improves the Indian Army's network-centric air defence capabilities.
Read article →Autonomous drones in India and what autonomy levels actually mean
Autonomous drones in India are sold by their autonomy level, yet that number does not determine what the law permits them to fly. The binding constraint is the interaction between engineering capability, DGCA permissions, and operator accountability. Understanding that distinction matters more as India's drone regulations evolve.
Read article →Unmanned ground vehicles in India: from bomb-disposal robots to combat UGVs
India's unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) sector is expanding through indigenous defense innovation and domestic manufacturing. Leading platforms, including Sapperscout 2.0, H4 Solutions' AI-powered UGV, and systems developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), support military and industrial operations. These autonomous ground vehicles are designed for surveillance, reconnaissance, logistics, bomb disposal, hazardous missions, and other high-risk tasks while reducing risks to personnel.
Read article →Unmanned maritime systems in India reach from the surface to the seabed
Unmanned maritime systems in India have moved past isolated demonstrations into a layered architecture. Robotic surface vessels, autonomous underwater vehicles, and seabed sensing now extend surveillance, mine warfare, and undersea domain awareness across the Indian Ocean Region under one indigenous spine.
Read article →How SVAMITVA Is Turning India’s Rural Land Into Bankable Assets
The SVAMITVA Scheme uses drone surveys and Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) technology to map rural inhabited areas accurately. The initiative creates detailed property records for residential land in villages. These surveys help establish clear property boundaries and support the issuance of legal property ownership cards to eligible rural residents. By combining drones, GIS, and modern surveying technology, SVAMITVA improves rural land records and strengthens property rights.
Read article →RTK and PPK positioning: centimetre accuracy on the Survey of India CORS network
RTK and PPK positioning are how drone survey teams move from metre-level GPS to centimetre-grade deliverables. In India, that workflow now anchors to the Survey of India's pan-India CORS network and the National Geospatial Policy 2022 baseline. This guide explains the reference frame, the two correction methods, and the operator decision that separates them.
Read article →Photogrammetry drone workflow and decision criteria for Indian survey teams
Photogrammetry drone decisions in India are no longer driven by camera specs and overlap rules of thumb. The National Geospatial Policy 2022, the Survey of India CORS network, and the Drone Rules 2021 weight categories now set the regulatory floors for every workflow choice. This piece maps the decision chain.
Read article →Drones for power transmission corridor inspection are replacing foot patrolling in India
Drones for power transmission corridor inspection have moved from POWERGRID pilots to routine state-utility operations. MPPTCL now monitors 10,000 circuit km of extra-high-voltage lines and 23,000 towers. The corridor-payload-compliance triad now defines how Indian transmission utilities procure aerial inspection capability at scale.
Read article →Drones in Indian Railways: How Track Inspection and Surveillance now Converge Under One Policy
Drones in Indian Railways now operate across three sanctioned tracks. Inspection sits with RDSO and the zonal railways, surveillance with the Railway Protection Force, and survey work with DFCCIL and greenfield-line construction. The 26 February 2026 Rail Tech Policy reorganises how the network sources, approves and scales the next wave of aerial inspection.
Read article →LiDAR drone surveying in India: cost, accuracy, and the mandate-driven applications
LiDAR drone surveying in India now sits at the intersection of three live mandates. NHAI corridor preparation, IBM Rule 34A mine compliance, and Survey of India's drone-based large-scale mapping pipeline together define the working ground. The cost-accuracy-application triad decides which projects move to LiDAR and which stay on photogrammetry.
Read article →Drones in Indian Healthcare Are Building a New Medical Logistics Network
Healthcare drones in India are transforming last-mile medical logistics across urban and remote regions. UAVs help transport diagnostic samples, vaccines, medicines, blood, and medical supplies rapidly. They can bypass traffic congestion and reach locations with limited road connectivity. Government initiatives and public-private partnerships are supporting wider drone adoption in healthcare. This emerging technology can reduce delivery times, improve access to critical medical supplies, and strengthen emergency healthcare logistics across India.
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