BENGALURU: As drones are being used extensively in Operation Sindoor, experts point out that this war-like situation should be used to learn and scale up the pace of R&D in counter-drone technologies, and indigenous development of micro-controls and lethal technologies.
While most of the drones being used in Op Sindoor were made in Bengaluru, Pune and Gurugram-Noida circuit, microchips, microprocessors and micro controllers are being imported, including from Taiwan. A DRDO official, seeking anonymity, said the work on improving drones and other technological interventions is being taken up by the organisation in partnership with private firms and experts.
Prof Abhishekh, Department of Aerospace, IIT-Kanpur, said that a lot of research has been done in the drone sector since 2018 and now, the work on counter-drone technologies is being strengthened. These include early detection, radio frequency jamming and laser technology to neutralise drones.
Experts said this should be done faster as the drone industry is growing at a rapid pace, especially over the last five years. They pointed out that drones are a Rs 1,500 crore market, much lesser than what it could have been by 2025. The country has over a 1,000 registered drone companies, but only 10-15 have partnered with government agencies and are seriously working on design and development. Experts pointed out that work is also being done in improving beyond-the-line-of-sight technology in drones, and India is lagging behind other countries. The defence sector should use the
IDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) platform to place orders with startups to strengthen drone manufacturing and come up with innovative ideas, they added.
Chief Research Scientist, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IISc, SB Omkar, said there is a lot of potential for growth in the drone industry but technological advances come with a cost, which the government should now support. Omkar, who is also chairperson for drone standardisation in India, said that volumes can be attained with economics and spreading drone usage across the country.
Yusuf Unjhawala, Adjunct Scholar, Takshila University, Bengaluru, said that the use of drones in warfare heightened after the Ukraine war. Now, work needs to be done based on imagination and anticipating demand. Technological advances are being worked out to make drones more lethal, compact, cheaper, long-ranging, faster and with more sensors. The lineage is more towards AI operations, he added.