Army-Wide Organic Drone Integration
Squad & Platoon Level: Nearly 385 infantry battalions are raising Ashni platoons equipped with surveillance quadcopters and kamikaze loitering munitions, empowering company commanders to strike directly without higher authorization.
Armoured & Artillery Support: Armour units are integrating Shaurya Squadrons into T-90 and Arjun regiments; artillery and light infantry are deploying Divyastra batteries and Bhairav commando units for organic unmanned operations.
Industrial Push and Air Platform Procurement
MALE & Stealth Development: India is fast-tracking 87 indigenous MALE drones (such as TAPAS-BH and Archer-NG) and developing the Ghatak stealth combat drone, breaking long-term reliance on Israeli imports.
HALE Capacity: As domestic High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) platforms develop, leased American MQ-9B SeaGuardians temporarily fill high-altitude coverage gaps over the Indian Ocean.
Layered Air Defence Shield
Integrated Counter-UAS Grid: The automated Akashteer air defence grid—which successfully intercepted assets during Operation Sindoor—is being reinforced by the Akash Tarang system and upgraded L-70 guns under Mission Sudarshan Chakra.
Pakistani Response: In response to recent strikes, Pakistan has deployed Turkish Korkut 35mm guns, Sahin counter-UAS turrets, and Chinese HQ-17AE missiles.
Electronic Warfare Landscape
Frontier Infrastructure: Pakistan is expanding ESM and ELINT nodes near the border (e.g., Dadyal and PAF Base Sindhri) to target GPS and radio links essential for drone navigation.
Countermeasures: India is countering these threats with upgraded EW suites on fighter aircraft, ground jammers, and live testing events like the IAF's Dronathon 2026 at Pokhran.
Directed Energy Counter-Drone Technologies
Acoustic & Microwave Weapons: CSIR and DRDO are developing non-kinetic systems under the SHIELD program—using sound waves to scramble drone gyroscopes and directed microwaves to disable quadcopters.
Economic Advantage: Directed energy provides a low cost-per-shot alternative to using expensive interceptor missiles against cheap drone swarms.
Supply Chain Audit and Electronic Security
AASHVAST Labs Launch: Established in Delhi, AASHVAST Labs conducts electronic audits of military hardware, firmware, and software to detect hidden backdoors, unauthorized access tools, and foreign (particularly Chinese) components.
Electronic Trust: As indigenous drone manufacturing scales up, verifying supply chain integrity is treated as a critical element of national defence
