India bets big on domestic drones for future warfare
India is preparing to place its largest-ever military drone order, a procurement worth more than $2 billion that could rapidly expand the country's unmanned warfare
India is preparing to place its largest-ever military drone order, a procurement worth more than $2 billion that could rapidly expand the country's unmanned warfare capabilities. For decades, India's military relied primarily on troops, fighter aircraft, satellites and conventional surveillance systems to monitor its borders. The 2020 military standoff with China in eastern Ladakh exposed the challenge of maintaining constant surveillance across vast stretches of difficult high-altitude terrain. Now India is preparing to place a record military drone order worth over $2 billion (€1.7 billion) with domestic manufacturers, including major firms like Adani Group, Tata Advanced Systems and Larsen & Toubro as well as startups such as ideaForge and Asteria Aerospace, marking its largest-ever unmanned systems procurement. Drones are increasingly seen as the eyes and ears of the battlefield, capable of gathering intelligence, tracking troop movements, delivering supplies and carrying out precision strikes. The drones are expected to be deployed along some of India's most sensitive frontiers including the Line of Actual Control with China, the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the Indian Ocean. On the surface, it is a major defense purchase. In reality, it reflects a profound shift in how India views future warfare and how quickly drones have moved from the margins of military planning to the center of it. The shift has been shaped by a series of developments. A wake-up call from the battlefield In May 2025, India and Pakistan came to the brink of a wider conflict after the Pahalgam attack in India-administered Kashmir, with both sides deploying drones and advanced air power before a US-backed ceasefire restored a fragile peace.
In the aftermath, India launched "Cold Start," the largest drone warfare exercise in its history, involving the army, navy and air force. AI and drones: Possibilities and Risks To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Tara Kartha, former member of the Security Council Secretariat, told DW that India's first real wake-up call came with the drone attack on the Jammu Air Force Base in 2021. "It exposed vulnerabilities that have only grown with the increasing use of drones for surveillance, smuggling and attacks," said Kartha. "What matters now is not just technology, but how quickly militaries can innovate, adapt payloads and develop new tactics. The side that dominates this low-altitude drone battle is likely to gain the upper hand in the wider conflict," she said. India is hardly alone in drawing lessons from recent conflicts. The war in Ukraine has transformed military thinking around the world. Cheap drones have destroyed tanks worth millions of dollars, guided artillery fire and struck targets far behind enemy lines. What was once considered a supporting technology is now a central feature of modern warfare. Military planners in New Delhi have been closely studying these developments. The proposed procurement reportedly includes reconnaissance platforms, logistics drones, loitering munitions and strike systems. Together, they would provide the military with persistent surveillance and rapid-response capabilities across multiple theaters. "The war in Ukraine reinforced the lesson that drones are no longer supporting tools but central to modern warfare," added Kartha.
The BriefWire