THE INDIAN ARMY AND DRONES

AMIT GUPTA argues why the induction of Drones, which have changed the face of modern warfare, into the Indian Army needs to be in greater numbers

- AMIT GUPTA

The Azerbaijan-Armenia war brought the potential of drones to the attention of militaries across the world since the Azeris used the unmanned vehicles to destroy Armenian artillery and armor. While the Azerbaijan-Armenia war did not get widespread global coverage, the Ukraine war has brought home just how effective drones can be in reshaping the nature of land warfare. At the same time, countries like Turkey and Iran have made a financial killing by selling their drones, which are made with off-the-shelf components, to Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Russia to pursue their wars. Iran has also given its allies, like the Houthi in Yemen, drones, which have been used quite effectively both against Saudi targets as well as, more recently, against tankers in the Red Sea.

The Indian Army has started to buy drones but it needs a dedicated drone force for three purposes: surveillance, tactical strike, and for electronic warfare. To discuss how drones can be integrated into the operations of the Indian Army this article is divided into several parts: the first part discusses the background history of drone warfare; the second part discusses the effectiveness and utility of drones; and the third part examines the need for a joint drone acquisition policy for the Indian armed forces as well as a coherent and effective way to acquire and produce these weapons.

Drones: A Backgrounder

Drones have been around since the 1930s when both the US Navy and the British military began to conduct experiments with unmanned systems. In the Vietnam War, the United States used drones for surveillance, but the full potential of the system was not recognized. By the 1980s, the Israelis were successfully using drones in various conflicts, particularly in 1982, when Israeli unmanned vehicles were used to ascertain the radar signatures of Syrian air defence systems.