On Tuesday (June 30), Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi retired after completing his two-year tenure. General Upendra’s tenure will be remembered for the ‘Operation Sindoor’ launched against Pakistan in May 2025 last year and laying the foundation of the Drone Force in the Indian Army. Even in his concluding address, he stressed on increasing drone capability in future wars.

During ‘Operation Sindoor’, Pakistan attacked with about 1000 drones from Siachen Glacier to Rann of Kutch in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The anti-aircraft guns and counter-drone systems of the Indian Army foiled these attacks. After this, the Army resolved to raise a drone force and started new units like Ashani Platoon, Bhairav ​​Battalion and Divyastra Battery. General Dwivedi announced these on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

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Ashani Platoon Preparation

After Pakistan’s drone attacks, the army created ‘Ashani’ drone platoon in every infantry battalion. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated it in Jaisalmer. In mythological belief, ‘Ashni’ is the name of the thunderbolt of Devraj Indra. There are 20 soldiers in this platoon, who have been trained to operate FPV, surveillance, swarm drone and loitering munition. Such units are being included in about 380 infantry battalions of the Indian Army.

role of drone war

FPV drones were used extensively in the Russia-Ukraine war. These drones can carry hand grenades along with surveillance and attack nearby targets. At the same time, swarm drone is a group of many small drones, which attack soldiers, tanks and military vehicles simultaneously. The Loating Munition upon reaching the target destroys itself with an explosion and causes huge damage.

New drone units ready

The Indian Army currently has about 50 thousand FPV and Swarm drones, although the need for long-range loitering munitions still remains. The Army has prepared ‘Shaktiban Unit’ for Artillery and ‘Shaurya Squadron’ for Tank Regiment. Every commando in the division level ‘Bhairav ​​Battalion’ has been given training in drone operation.

Emphasis on ‘Baj battalion’

The army aims to increase the number of drones to one lakh in the next two-three years. For this purpose, a new ‘Eagle Battalion’ is being formed for better coordination of FPV, swarm drones, loitering munitions and remotely piloted aircraft. This unit will increase the capability of drone based attacks. Besides, the Indian Army is also developing new counter-drone technology in collaboration with indigenous companies to disable enemy drones.

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