GROWING DRONE ECOSYSTEM
One area India is focusing on is the rapid development of homegrown drones to strengthen defence.
Some drones are compact enough to be carried in a soldier’s backpack and deployed to monitor India’s vast, porous borders.
Vipul Joshi, chief financial officer of Indian drone manufacturer ideaForge, said these drones are useful for real-time intelligence and monitoring activities, including detecting infiltration attempts.
Earlier this year, the startup secured an order worth about US$16 million from India’s army for its hybrid mini unmanned aerial vehicle systems, under new initiatives that have made it easier for innovative local firms to supply the military.
Drones can also carry small payloads, making them suitable for missions ranging from reconnaissance to logistics support.
In recent years, the war in Ukraine and clashes along the India-Pakistan border have shown how drones can effectively challenge tanks in combat.
Military demand for unmanned aerial vehicles is taking off as they are inexpensive to build, easy to mass-produce, able to navigate difficult terrain, and eliminate risk to human operators.
Such factors make them especially valuable for a country like India, whose borders stretch from arid deserts to icy mountain ranges, said observers.
ideaForge’s Joshi highlighted that militaries are increasingly moving beyond reconnaissance drones to adopt loitering munitions – which loiter in an area until striking a target, and logistics drones – which deliver items, as part of their arsenals.
