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Foreigners are currently not allowed to fly drones in India. For commercial purposes, they need to lease the drone to an Indian entity who in-turn will obtain Unique Identification Number (UIN) and UAOP from DGCA.
Also worth noting is that India has specific requirements regarding the types of features a drone must have to be flown in India (excluding those in the Nano category). These mandatory requirements include:
Over the last three years, drone intrusions along the India-Pakistan International Border have increased. This commentary describes the nature of this new threat and outlines countermeasures deployed by the Indian security establishment so far.
Over the last three years, ceasefire violations and cross-border infiltrations have ebbed and flowed along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) between India and Pakistan. In recent times, a new challenge has emerged in the form of drone intrusions along the International Border. This commentary describes the nature of the threat, the security risks posed, and the countermeasures deployed so far. It argues that this emerging threat needs more attention.
The use of drones has also brought a new dimension to border security as they offer several advantages over the traditional methods of infiltration employed by Pakistan. First, they can fly at high altitudes and low speeds, making it difficult for border security forces to detect and intercept them. Second, they can be remotely controlled and flown from a safe distance, reducing the risk to human operatives engaging in infiltration attempts. Third, drones can carry payloads over long distances, making them an effective tool for transporting weapons, explosives, narcotics, and other supplies across the border. Fourth, drones can also be used for espionage purposes, allowing unauthorized individuals to gather sensitive information about military installations, critical infrastructure, and other key targets.
The security forces are developing the capability to deal with the drone threat in both the kinetic realm (such as patrolling by security forces, deployment of anti-drone weapons, detection systems like radars, jammers, and so on) and the non-kinetic realm (drone forensics to find information on senders/receivers). Drones are also used by Indian security forces for surveillance, reconnaissance, and offensive operations, as well as to provide key logistical support in remote areas.
In response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Nisith Pramanik listed the measures taken by the government to address the smuggling of arms and narcotics via drones from Pakistan through the Punjab border. These are as follows:
As noted in the response, the BSF has also established an Anti-Rogue Drone Technology Committee to evaluate and certify the effectiveness of available technology. They conduct awareness campaigns among the public in border areas to sensitize them about UAV/drone activities and encourage them to report any suspicious activities to the BSF and local police. Similarly, the army in J&K has also been training Village Defence Committee members to help them spot drones and counter the threat.
The BSF has also procured more anti-drone systems for installation along the Indo-Pakistan border in Punjab, with ongoing trials. A report indicates that security forces have been working with both the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and private players to develop the technology to deal with this new and emerging security threat. This push to the indigenous startup ecosystem to develop counter-drone technology, combined with the drive to strengthen interagency cooperation, is a move in the right direction. The seriousness of the threat has also led to the establishment of a state-of-the-art lab in New Delhi to study drone forensics. The facility helps understand the information trail: landing points, source points, messages relayed, GPS coordinates, and so on.
As the data shows, the number of drone intrusions in the last thirty-six months has increased steadily. Given this and the potential for other cross-border activities in addition to the smuggling of drugs, such as weapon delivery, terrorist attacks, and surveillance, this emerging threat will demand greater attention in the near future, particularly along the India-Pakistan International Border. Time will tell if the measures undertaken by the security establishment, particularly the BSF, are sufficient or if more needs to be done to adequately address this threat.
Dubbed the Ghatak, Hindi for "lethal," the autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle was trialed last week at a test range in Chitradurga in the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka. It is being developed by aeronautical scientists at the Defense Research and Development Organization within India's Defense Ministry.
The Ghatak was conceived in 2015 when the Indian government announced plans to develop unmanned combat aerial vehicles. The stealthy drone has a weapons bay for missiles and smart bombs, and arrives at a time of geopolitical and geoeconomic competition between New Delhi and Beijing.
The UAV could play a future role in the ongoing standoffs along the 2,100-mile Himalayan boundary contested by India and China, known as the Line of Actual Control, where both militaries are digging in with more troop deployments and newer infrastructure.
The autonomous system based on a flying wing design marks a major advancement in self-piloting technology. The Indian Air Force, which will eventually operate a fleet of the high-speed drones, will be able to dispatch the Ghatak to any surveyed airfield and land it without infrastructure like ground radar, or a pilot.
Fying wing technology so far has been mastered by only a handful of countries. By advancing its indigenous research and development capacity and reducing dependence on external sources, India also is establishing itself as a significant player in defense technology manufacturing.
"With this flight in the tailless configuration, India has joined an elite club of countries that have mastered the controls for the flying wing technology," India's Defense Ministry said in a statement on December 15.
Anil Chopra, a retired Indian Air Force air marshall who is now head of the Center for Air Power Studies think tank in New Delhi, told the Hindustan Times: "The latest test is a significant milestone on the path to developing indigenous stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicles."
India conducted its maiden flight of the Ghatak in July 2022, when the drone demonstrated autonomous flight capabilities. The latest test verified its autonomous landing without assistance from ground crews.
Aadil Brar is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers international security, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian security. Aadil previously reported for the BBC World Service. He holds degrees from the University of British Columbia and SOAS, University of London. Send tips or suggestions to Aadil at a.b...@newsweek.com.
In the world of small drone making, all roads leads from China: Shenzhen-based DJI dominates the global market with an estimated 70% share, and makers of small drones like the FPV kamikazes used by both sides in Ukraine are almost totally reliant on China for parts. The Indian government is seeking to break this reliance and kickstart an indigenous drone industry which could rival China.
International concern over use of Chinese-made drones has been brewing for some years, notably with a U.S. ban on the use of DJI drones in the military in 2018. The main issue was that the Chinese government could lean on DJI to provide data from the drones, for example their locations, along with the potential risk of spyware or other hidden hazards. The US has also set up the Blue sUAS initiative to encourage locally-made alternatives to small Chinese drones.
Brig. Gen. Yuriy Shchyhol, in charge of drone procurement for the Ukrainian military, has announced plans to buy 200,000 drones this year alone. A company like Teal is not scaled to handle that kind of order, and while Ukraine has many local drone startups, a large proportion of the drones or their components will inevitably be Chinese.
In part because of these costs, drones are still part of a nascent industry in the country, and uptake is comparatively slow. As of November, there were around 13,000 drones registered in the country, though not all are used for agriculture. By comparison, the most recent census data, from 2011, estimated that the country had nearly 263 million agricultural laborers.
Some of the key players in the Military Vehicle Sustainment market Paras Aerospace, ideaforge Technology Ltd., Throttle Aerospace Systems Pvt. Ltd., Garuda Aerospace, Asteria Aerospace Limited, General Aeronautics, and Newspace Research Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Iotechworld, Adani Defense and Aerospace, Tata Advanced Systems Limited, CDSpace, Thanos, Dhaksha Unmanned Systems, Marut Dronetech Private Limited, Hubblefly Technologies, Raphe and among others, are the drones providers that in India for various application, industry vectors.
Programs like the Digital Sky Platform, the Garuda initiative for COVID-19 operations, and the PLI scheme for drone manufacturing are key government efforts supporting the drone industry.are also actively investing in the development of Military Vehicles around the region.
New use cases include using drones for delivering medical supplies in rural areas, crowd monitoring during large public events, and using AI-integrated drones for predictive maintenance in industrial settings.
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