TIME FOR SEA DRONES

Facing an intensifying two-front maritime threat from China and Pakistan in the Indian Ocean, India must rapidly expand the development, production, and deployment of unmanned surface and undersea vessels. A special report

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Confronted by a rapidly intensifying two-front maritime threat from China and Pakistan in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), India must urgently scale up the development, production, and deployment of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and unmanned undersea vessels (UUVs) that will plug the gap in its maritime security network and operate as force multipliers. In August 2025, barely three months after the intense four-day India-Pakistan conflict of May 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs tabled a damning report titled "Evaluation of India's Indian Ocean Strategy." It flagged the "escalating Chinese presence and its increasing influence" as a development that "poses substantial risks to India's national security and wider strategic interests."

The same report noted that the "strengthening of the China-Pakistan naval nexus", which not only facilitates joint military exercises but also "advances Pakistan's naval modernisation", is of equal concern.

India's conventional response is impressive. The current fleet of the Indian Navy stands at about 150 active warships and submarines, with more than 50 vessels under construction across Indian shipyards. Additionally, the service is building exquisite steel, including warships, submarines, destroyers, antisubmarine corvettes, and survey vessels.

And, it unquestionably needs every ton of it to stare down the dual threat posed by China and Pakistan in the IOR.

The Union Cabinet has approved a ₹69,725-crore ($8 billion) shipbuilding resuscitation package aimed at expanding the fleet while indigenising critical subsystems. Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence's 15-year Technology Vision and Capability Roadmap envisages a third aircraft carrier, potentially nuclear-propelled, and with an indigenous twin-engine deck-based fighter.