Drones
105 posts in this category.
Operation Sindoor and the Rise of Drone Warfare in India
Operation Sindoor was a precision military operation launched by India on 7 May 2025 against nine terrorist infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The operation was conducted in response to the 22 April 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack, which killed 26 civilians. It employed precision-guided weapons to target militant facilities while aiming to minimise collateral damage and avoid escalation beyond the designated targets.
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 →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 →Bhairav drone force reshapes Indian Army combat at the battalion echelon
The Bhairav drone force is the visible tip of an Indian Army restructuring that pushes organic unmanned capability into every battalion. The architecture spans Rudra brigades, Bhairav battalions, drone platoons, and Shaktibaan regiments with Divyastra batteries, creating a long-term demand cycle for indigenous drone and counter-drone systems.
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 →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 →Self-Reliant Drone Industry in India: Building an Indigenous Drone Ecosystem
India's indigenous drone manufacturing industry is expanding rapidly through government initiatives that promote domestic production and reduce import dependence. Key drivers include import restrictions, the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, and the DigitalSky platform for regulatory compliance. Supported by a growing ecosystem of 800+ drone startups and increasing adoption across defence, agriculture, infrastructure, and logistics, India aims to become a global drone manufacturing hub by 2030.
Read article →Akashteer: India's Automated Air Defence Network Explained
Akashteer is the Indian Army's fully indigenous automated air defence control and reporting system. It connects sensors, command nodes, and ground-based air defence weapons into a single operational network. The system matters because modern air defence is no longer defined by individual radars or missile launchers. It is defined by how quickly information moves from detection to engagement.
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 →SVAMITVA drone survey: how rural India is mapping land titles at scale
The SVAMITVA drone survey has mapped 3.29 lakh of India's 3.44 lakh targeted villages and distributed 2.65 crore property cards across rural abadi areas. The scheme sits at the intersection of drone procurement, ground-truthing workflows, and rural credit. An estimated Rs 135 lakh crore in land value is entering the formal economy.
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.
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