Indian Indigenous Drones: India’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, spoke strongly about how India must build its own drones to stay stronger than its enemies in future wars. He explained that modern battles need the latest technology and not old systems. While talking at a workshop held in New Delhi’s Manekshaw Centre, he said, “Today’s warfare has to be fought with tomorrow’s technology.”
The event focused on how India can stop depending on foreign companies for important parts used in drones and anti-drone systems. The workshop was organised by the Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff (HQ-IDS) and a defence think tank called the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies.
During the workshop, General Chauhan shared his thoughts on why India should avoid using drones made in other countries, especially during real military action.
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He added, “Our ‘Operation Sindoor’ has shown us why we mus must not depend on ust not depend on imported drone or counter-drone technology. Indigenous systems are critical. Foreign systems come with limitations their specifications are widely known, allowing adversaries to anticipate tactics.” He believes Indian-made drones are better because foreign ones are easy for enemies to study and break. He said India must keep researching and developing new technology to protect its borders better.
In the history of warfare, we have witnessed revolutionary changes—from heavy rifles to lighter, more sophisticated long-range weapons. But the biggest shift is the emergence of drones and unarmed aerial systems. Their utility has grown multifold—from basic surveillance tools to becoming effective force multipliers on the battlefield,” he said, reported Ministry of Defence.
How Pakistan Used Drones?
General Chauhan shared what happened in May 2025 when Pakistan tried to attack India. He said that Pakistan used drones without weapons and also loitering munitions, which are drones that wait and then explode on targets. But India was ready and destroyed most of those drones using both physical weapons and high-tech systems. He said proudly that not a single drone from Pakistan damaged any Indian army area or civilian place.
He pointed out that Pakistan was using drones made by Turkey, and most of its weapons, around 81%, came from China. “China was providing all possible support. 81% of the military hardware in Pakistan is Chinese,” This was shared earlier by Lieutenant General Rahul R Singh, who looks after Army Capability Development. The Turkish drones used by Pakistan, especially the Bayraktar ones, also lost a lot of their value and reputation because they failed badly against India’s home-made air defence system, Akashteer.
India still Importing Drones
A defence expert, Dr. Sanket Kulkarni said “The next few years will be a continuous phase of learning for both end-users and innovators in studying global developments in the domain of defence drones and then incorporating key lessons to build world-class platforms here in India. And the components ecosystem and human resources will also need to catch up to support such indigenisation efforts,” Kulkarni remarked.
Even with the strong push to build drones in India, the country still buys them from outside. For example, in October 2024, India signed a deal with the US to buy 31 Predator drones for ₹32,000 crore. The good thing about the deal is that it includes plans to fix and service those drones in India itself. Still, it shows that India depends on others when it comes to very advanced drones.
This situation is also affecting Indian drone companies. For example, ideaForge, a company that makes drones in India, did not earn much money recently because the government didn’t order many drones in the first quarter of 2024-25. Last year, MediaNama said that even though the Indian Government says it supports self-reliance in defence, India will still have to buy drones from other countries for some time. This makes it harder to fully follow what General Chauhan is pushing for.
