INDIA'S NEW VANGUARD

INDIA'S DEFENCE-TECH START-UPS ARE STEPPING OUT OF THE SHADOWS, DELIVERING AI-BASED INTELLIGENCE, KAMIKAZE DRONES, AND SATELLITE TOOLS TO THE FRONTLINES. IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW BOOM?

- PALAK AGARWAL

THREE INDIAN INSTITUTE of Technology (IIT) Bombay students, Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh, and Ashish Bhat, founded ideaForge Technology in 2007.

A year later, after the startup won top honours in a competition alongside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, defence laboratories in India approached it for autopilots, which serve as the brains of unmanned aerial vehicles.

"We delivered the world's smallest and lightest autopilot at the time, marking the start of our collaboration with government labs," says Mehta.

ideaForge's fixed wing (SWITCH) and quad platform (NETRA) series of drones were pressed into service in Operation Sindoor, which India launched in May to target terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan in response to the April 22 shooting that left 26 tourists dead in Pahalgam in Kashmir.

What stood out wasn't just the precision of the strikes, but the technology that powered them.

The operation also underscored a fundamental shift: Indian defence-tech startups, which number around 1,000, are now becoming big players in key areas of the country's defence right from artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled surveillance and satellite imagery to indigenous drones.

Davinder Sandhu, Co-Founder & Chair of consultancy firm Primus Partners India, says India's defence-tech sector is shifting from a PSU-led model to one where startups are crucial drivers of innovation, agility, and strategic autonomy. “These startups are developing advanced technologies—from AI-driven drones to smart soldier systems—delivering rapid, indigenous solutions that reduce import dependence and strengthen India's defence capabilities.”