India’s defence drone industry surges to forefront amid Operation Sindoor response

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India’s swift and precise response under Operation Sindoor, following the brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam, has thrust the country’s fast-growing defence drone manufacturing ecosystem — a dynamic network of homegrown innovation and strategic global collaborations now playing a critical role in counterterror operations– into the spotlight.

Leading this transformation are companies such as Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Adani Elbit, Adani Defence, Solar Industries, ZMotion Autonomous Systems, , Raphe mPhibr, and IdeaForge — all of which are actively supporting Indian defence forces with cutting-edge unmanned aerial platforms.

According to the Drone Federation of India (DFI), these companies are delivering a range of drone capabilities. Asteria Aerospace is providing surveillance UAVs, Solar Industries and ZMotion Autonomous Systems are supplying the Nagastra Loitering Munition Drone while Tata Advanced Systems is offering the ALS-50 Loitering Munition. Raphe mPhibr is contributing surveillance and logistics UAVs, Adani Alpha Design & Elbit Systems are providing the SkyStriker Loitering Munition Drone, Adani Defence is supplying the Drishti (Hermes 900) surveillance drone and IdeaForge is providing surveillance UAVs.

“In India, we have 50+ drone component manufacturing companies that are either building drone components for defence and civil drone Indian companies or in the process of building customised solutions for supporting our defence drone companies,” said Smit Shah, President of the Drone Federation of India.

Policy Push

India’s defence drone journey gained momentum in 2021 after a strong policy push. That year, the government, industry, and academia came together to position drones as a strategic priority, leading to the introduction of Drone Rules 2021, a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, an import ban, and liberalised export norms.

“Initially, there was considerable dependency on the global supply chain, but now all leading drone companies have 70–75% indigenous capabilities and some global dependencies on critical materials available in certain geographies,” Shah added.

Executives noted that India is also focused on strengthening cybersecurity mechanisms in drone systems to prevent vulnerabilities when deployed by the armed forces.

According to DFI, Indian defence drone companies have collectively invested about ₹2,000 crore over the last five years in R&D and manufacturing of drones for surveillance, logistics, and loitering applications.

The Indian government has procured both ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) and armed drones from a mix of domestic and global sources. Some platforms are entirely indigenous, while others are built through joint ventures.

“The forces have inducted attack drones from Indian players as well…the requirement is clear, drones that can cause an end effect, meaning retaliation or retribution, and drones that help in picking the right targets are needed. Both kinds of equipment are keenly required, whether in the current situation or any war-like opportunity,” said Ankit Mehta, CEO of IdeaForge.

“Another critical requirement now is resilience. Equipment must survive electronic warfare and drone defense systems. Systems that can withstand jamming and EW [electronic warfare] attacks will be a big plus going forward,” Mehta told Moneycontrol, adding that the company’s platforms are already deployed in the Valley.

IdeaForge, he said, is the largest supplier of ISR drones to the Indian Army. “...there’s still a lot more scale we can deliver given the size of our armed forces. Our systems have been used in search and rescue, counter-insurgency, and counter-terrorism operations — even in incidents just a day before the recent attacks.”

Deep Localisation

Executives also emphasized the government’s push for deep localisation — going down to chip-level forensics in technical evaluations to ensure no components originate from countries deemed adversarial.

“...our anti-drone systems are already deployed in sensitive and critical areas. They are being used on a day-to-day basis…asymmetric warfare is now a reality, and there’s only going to be a surge in demand for anti-drone technologies—there’s no going back. We’re already seeing a push to equip every soldier, facility, and platform—whether ground, naval or aerial—with counter-UAS (unmanned aerial systems) capabilities. That includes soldier-mounted, man-pack, and stationary systems,” said Ashutosh Baheti, CEO of Paras Anti-Drone Technologies.

Paras Anti-Drone is a subsidiary of Paras Defence & Space Technologies, which recently entered a strategic joint venture with Israel’s HevenDrones.

Electronics and EMS (electronics manufacturing services) companies are also eyeing the defence drone segment. Optiemus Unmanned Systems Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Optiemus Infracom, has partnered with Taiwan-based Avix Technology to jointly develop and manufacture high-performance camera systems, gimbals, and other drone components in India.

“Government will not allow any Chinese substandard part in Indian drones because of security issues—our focus in the last eight months has been to localise components through partnerships. We have had enquiries from the authorities for our products and have given trials since the Pahalgam incident. We expect to source 80–90% components locally for drones in 3–6 months,” said Ashok Gupta, Executive Chairman of the Optiemus Group.