Drones
67 posts in this category.
Kamikaze drone vs FPV drone: what each term actually means
Kamikaze drone and FPV drone are not synonyms. Kamikaze describes the operational role, a one-way strike system. FPV describes the control method, a pilot flying in real time through video goggles. India's military now fields both autonomous loitering munitions and FPV-controlled kamikaze systems as separate operational tools across the precision-strike spectrum.
Read article →India's drone manufacturing ecosystem: the 23-firm PLI beneficiary cohort
India's drone manufacturing ecosystem spans 23 PLI beneficiaries across nine states, yet 50–60 percent of subsystem value still comes from imported components. PLI 1.0 expanded domestic assembly capacity. PLI 2.0, Mission Drone Shakti, and ANRF component R&D now target manufacturing scale, domestic content, and subsystem research.
Read article →RPC renewal, Class 2 medicals, and what the Drone Rules actually require
RPC renewal in India runs on a ten-year cycle and a separate medical fitness paperwork track. The confusion starts when operators treat the RPTO fitness certificate, the Digital Sky renewal process, and the manned-aviation Class 2 medical as the same workflow. This article separates the three and maps where each actually applies.
Read article →Top 12 most advanced military drones in 2026: global leaders and India's indigenous fleet
Military drones now shape reconnaissance, precision strike, border surveillance, and electronic warfare across every major conflict theatre. The 2026 battlefield depends on endurance, autonomy, sensor fusion, and layered drone doctrine. This analysis examines the world's most capable military drones and India's expanding indigenous fleet after Operation Sindoor.
Read article →Foreign tourist drone registration in India: what the rules actually allow
Foreign tourist drone registration in India is not permitted under the Drone Rules 2021. A non-resident individual cannot obtain a Unique Identification Number through eGCA. Personal operation in Indian airspace is barred, and customs detention follows any arrival without a Red Channel declaration under the Baggage Rules 2016. The lease pathway through an Indian entity is the only lawful route.
Read article →India's drone export framework: SCOMET, GAED, and the defence trade chain
India's drone export framework runs through three regulatory doors. SCOMET Category 5B governs dual-use UAVs; GAED India covers low-risk civilian exports; SCOMET Category 6 governs military UAVs under the Ministry of Defence. This piece maps the chain end-to-end after the FY 2025-26 export surge.
Read article →Yellow zone permission on DigitalSky: How to apply, approval routing, and timelines
Yellow zone permission on DigitalSky is the regulatory unlock for every drone flight that crosses controlled airspace in India. This guide covers five layers: the pre-flight prerequisites, the application workflow, the authority that approves each airspace type, the timeline ranges to expect, and the steps to take when a request is denied.
Read article →eGCA vs DigitalSky: how the DGCA drone platform split works
eGCA vs DigitalSky is the central compliance question for every drone operator in India after the workflow migration of July 2025. A DGCA Public Notice dated 3 July 2025 split drone services across two platforms, with phased migration on 4 July and 15 July 2025. This guide maps what moved, what stayed, and how operators move between the two systems.
Read article →PLI scheme for drones - beneficiaries, allocation, results
The PLI scheme for drones was notified on 30 September 2021 with a ₹120 crore allocation over three financial years. Its value-addition rate of 20 percent was the highest among India's 14 sectoral PLI schemes. Three years on, ₹30 crore has been disbursed to 12 firms, and PLI 2.0 sits in draft.
Read article →Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam 2024: What the BVA changes for drone operators
The Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam 2024 replaced the Aircraft Act 1934 on 1 January 2025 and now carries the statutory weight behind every DGCA certificate, every drone penalty, and every airspace prosecution in India. This page maps what the BVA changes, what it carries forward, and what it means for operators flying under Drone Rules 2021.
Read article →Drone Shakti Mission - India's component manufacturing push
The Drone Shakti Mission is India's first national policy instrument focused on drone component manufacturing rather than airframe assembly. Announced on 2 January 2026 by the Principal Scientific Advisor and pending Cabinet approval, the mission reframes the indigenous drone challenge from platform sovereignty to subsystem sovereignty.
Read article →Red, yellow, and green drone zones in India: what each one actually means
Red, yellow, and green drone zones form the operational classification that decides whether a flight is legal before takeoff under Rule 19 of the Drone Rules 2021. This piece explains how each zone works, what permission each requires, and what penalty applies when an operator gets the zone wrong.
Read article →Drone Amendment Rules 2022: what changed and why it mattered
The Drone Amendment Rules 2022 reshaped India's drone compliance stack within six months of the parent Drone Rules 2021. Notified on 11 February 2022, the amendment replaced the Remote Pilot Licence with a Remote Pilot Certificate. It devolved issuance to authorised training organisations and reset the legacy-drone registration deadline to 31 March 2022.
Read article →India's drone corridors: how Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Gujarat anchor the network
Drone corridors in India have moved from the Vikarabad sandbox to a three-state operational map. Telangana runs the medical template, Uttarakhand the hill-corridor pipeline, and Gujarat the industrial cluster. This is the source-led reference page on what runs, what is planned, and what the next 24 months change.
Read article →Drone Rules 2021: the full breakdown for Indian operators
Drone Rules 2021 remain the operational rulebook for every civilian drone in India, even after the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam 2024 replaced the Aircraft Act and the draft Civil Drone Bill 2025 entered consultation. This reference walks through the twelve Parts of the statute, names the rules every operator must clear, and flags what the 2022 and 2023 amendments changed.
Read article →Civil Drone (Promotion and Regulation) Bill 2025: what it changes for operators
The Civil Drone Bill 2025 proposes to replace Drone Rules 2021 with a standalone statute below 500 kg. Released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 16 September 2025, the draft Bill rewrites type certification, insurance, BVLOS, penalties, and compensation. Here is what changes for Indian operators, manufacturers, and procurement teams.
Read article →Counter-drone systems in India: the defence stack
Counter-drone systems in India now run on a six-layer defence stack of sensors, AI fusion, command, soft-kill, hard-kill, and directed-energy weapons. This is the architecture that intercepted more than six hundred hostile drones during Operation Sindoor in May 2025.
Read article →How to fly a drone in India: pre-flight to landing
How to fly a drone in India is now defined by a structured operational sequence, not just stick control. Registration, airspace checks, pre-flight inspection, in-flight discipline, and post-flight logging each sit inside the Drone Rules 2021 framework. This walkthrough follows the operator flow used across commercial, survey, and agricultural drone operations in Indian airspace.
Read article →What a drone UIN actually is, and what it does not authorise in India
A drone UIN is the permanent legal identity of an unmanned aircraft system under Drone Rules 2021. It is not flight permission, not a pilot licence, and not airspace clearance. This reference explains what the UIN authorises under Rule 15, what it does not, and where it sits inside the eGCA and DigitalSky compliance chain.
Read article →Defence drones in India: indigenous fleet, doctrine, and the post-Sindoor build-out
Defence drones in India have moved from auxiliary ISR assets to decisive battlefield platforms in the year since Operation Sindoor. This is the reference page on India's indigenous military drone fleet, the platforms in service, the programmes in development, the doctrine driving procurement, and the institutions building the force.
Read article →