How Operation Sindoor Validates Growth Of India’s Drone, Defence Manufacturing Sectors

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Last Updated:May 14, 2025, 19:30 IST

From aerial defence systems to drones, from counter-UAS capabilities to net-centric warfare platforms, indigenous exertion has delivered erstwhile it mattered most

Army and information unit during Operation Sindoor. (Screengrab via X/@adgpi)

Operation Sindoor is not conscionable a communicative of tactical occurrence but besides a validation of India’s defence indigenisation policies, authorities sources say.

From aerial defence systems to drones, from counter-UAS capabilities to net-centric warfare platforms, indigenous exertion has delivered erstwhile it mattered most.

Development of drones

The Drone Federation India (DFI) is simply a premier manufacture assemblage representing implicit 550 drone companies and 5,500 drone pilots. DFI’s imaginativeness is to marque India a planetary drone hub by 2030, and it promotes the design, development, manufacturing, adoption, and export of Indian drone and counter-drone exertion worldwide. DFI enables easiness of doing business, promotes the adoption of drone technology, and hosts respective programmes similar Bharat Drone Mahotsav.

Some companies progressive successful the drone abstraction are:

Alpha Design Technologies (Bengaluru) partnered with Israel’s Elbit Systems to physique SkyStriker.

Tata Advanced Systems offers a afloat scope of integrated solutions crossed defence & information and has served arsenic a trusted spouse to India’s equipped forces for implicit six decades.

Paras Defence & Space Technologies operates wrong the defence and abstraction segments, distinguished by Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) capabilities.

IG Drones is simply a drone exertion institution for manufacturing and R&D of drones, specialised successful defence and different manufacture applications, on with a supplier of drone-related services similar ​ drone surveying, mapping, and inspection by manufacture experts. The institution has partnered with the Indian Army, the Government of India, and aggregate authorities governments, among others.

Drones astatine centre of modern warfare

The integration of drone warfare into India’s subject doctrine owes its occurrence to years of home R&D and argumentation reform. Since 2021, the prohibition connected imported drones and the motorboat of the PLI (production-linked incentive) strategy person catalysed accelerated innovation.

The strategy of production-linked inducement for drones and drone components of the ministry of civilian aviation was notified connected September 30, 2021, with a full inducement of Rs 120 crore dispersed implicit 3 fiscal years, FY 2021-22 to FY 2023-24. The aboriginal lies successful autonomous drones with AI-driven decision-making, and India is already laying the groundwork.

Defence manufacturing and exports

Defence exports crossed the grounds fig of astir Rs 24,000 crore successful fiscal twelvemonth 2024-25. The purpose is to summation the fig to Rs 50,000 crore by 2029 and marque India a developed federation and the world’s largest defence exporter by 2047.

India has emerged arsenic a large defence manufacturing hub, driven by the “Make successful India" inaugural and a beardown propulsion for self-reliance. In FY 2023–24, indigenous defence accumulation reached a grounds Rs 1.27 lakh crore, portion exports soared to Rs 23,622 crore successful FY 2024–25, a 34-fold summation from 2013–14. Strategic reforms, backstage assemblage involvement, and robust R&D person led to the improvement of precocious subject platforms similar the Dhanush Artillery Gun System, Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun, Light Specialist Vehicles, High Mobility Vehicles, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), Akash Missile System, Weapon Locating Radar, 3D Tactical Control Radar, and Software Defined Radio (SDR), arsenic good arsenic naval assets similar destroyers, indigenous craft carriers, submarines, frigates, corvettes, accelerated patrol vessels, accelerated onslaught craft, and offshore patrol vessels.

The authorities has backed this maturation with grounds procurement contracts, innovations nether iDEX, drives similar SRIJAN, and 2 defence concern corridors successful Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Key acquisitions specified arsenic LCH (light combat helicopter...