Rakshit Sharma
The future of warfare has landed and it hums through the skies, without a cockpit. In a dramatic escalation earlier this month, Ukraine launched a coordinated drone strike, Operation Spider’s Web, deep into Russian territory, disabling or destroying over 40 strategic bombers, including nuclear-capable Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 aircraft, across multiple airbases. The attack, executed using low-cost FPV drones hidden inside trucks, caused an estimated $7 billion in damage to the Russian strategic fleet, without risking a single Ukrainian pilot.
The implications for India, which faces a volatile two-front threat from China and Pakistan, are significant and sobering. With adversaries fast integrating drones into their offensive doctrines, India’s reliance on a scattered fleet of imported and indigenous drones is no longer sufficient. A strong case is emerging for the Indian Armed Forces to establish a dedicated Drone Wing or ‘Dronery’ Command, a tri-service body equipped, trained, and empowered to dominate in this emerging domain of warfare.
Ukraine’s Drone Doctrine: A Wake-Up Call
Ukraine’s latest operation was not a fluke. It marked a shift in how war is fought, where precision, stealth, and cost-efficiency beat sheer size. A drone costing ?40,000-?1 lakh destroyed bombers worth ?400-700 crore. These drones slipped past air defenses, avoided decoys, and inflicted strategic losses that even nuclear-armed Russia cannot replenish quickly due to low production capacity.
These attacks forced Russia to relocate aircraft, reinforced the importance of Next-Generation Hardened Aircraft Shelters (NGHAS), and exposed the gaping vulnerability of traditional airbases in the drone age.
India has reason to worry.
India’s Adversarial Neighborhood: Drones Loom Large
India’s geostrategic landscape mirrors Ukraine’s in many ways. China, a world leader in autonomous systems, has already deployed drone swarms in Eastern Ladakh, while Pakistan continues to use drones for surveillance, arms smuggling, and even kamikaze-style attacks like the 2021 strike on the Jammu airbase.
India’s own airbases at Leh, Srinagar, Pathankot, and Ambala are within strike range of both adversaries. However, many of these installations still lack hardened shelters, making Rafales (?900+ crore) and Su-30 MKIs (?400 crore) potential sitting ducks for drones that cost less than a high-end smartphone.The strategic gap is glaring.
Current Capabilities: Fragmented and Insufficient
While India has made commendable progress in acquiring platforms like the MQ-9B Predator, Heron TP, and developing indigenous drones like the Rustom-II and Archer-NG, the structure remains fragmented across services.
* The Army uses tactical drones for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissancebut lacks offensive drone battalions.
* The Air Force has leased Predators but lacks swarm or loitering munition capability.
* The Navy has experimented with ship-based drones but lacks an integrated doctrine.
This fragmented approach mirrors the early Russian model, prior to its setbacks in Ukraine and reveals the urgent need for centralized command, doctrine, and resource allocation.
Why India Needs a Dedicated Drone Command- Indian Unmanned Systems Command (IN-USC).
A dedicated “Drone Wing” or Dronery Command, under the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), would serve three core functions:
* Offensive Operations – Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles, UCAVs like the indigenous Ghatak, loitering munitions, and First Person View, FPV drones for direct action and support missions.
* Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance- Long-range and high-altitude drones for border monitoring, strike planning, and maritime domain awareness.
* Counter-Drone Systems – Dedicated electronic warfare teams, laser-based interceptors, and radar jamming units to protect critical infrastructure.
This tri-service entity would unify efforts, eliminate redundancy, and ensure drones operate as a first-strike, not support, weapon.
Training the New Warriors: Drone Warfare Academy
Drawing from Ukraine’s model, where gamers and FPV racing champions are recruited into military drone units, India should establish a Drone Warfare Academy. This academy would:
* Train combat drone pilots, AI swarm tacticians, and Electronic Warfare Trainers in Jamming, spoofing and cyber-defense.
* Collaborate with IITs, DRDO, and private players to simulate real-world scenarios.
* Involve veterans from CI/CT ops in Kashmir to tailor training for tactical usage in rugged and urban environments.
Courses must include data analysis, repair and modification, counter-drone jamming, and ethical warfare frameworks.
Building Indigenous Capability at Speed
India’s drone ecosystem must evolve rapidly. While ideaForge, Tata Advanced Systems, and NewSpace are emerging players, the focus must shift to:
* Mass production of low-cost FPV and swarm drones.
* Development of stealthy autonomous UCAVs like the Ghatak.
* Deployment of anti-drone systems like DRDO’s Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) and laser interceptorsmodelled on Israel’s Iron Beam.
A capital outlay of ?50,000 crore over five years is essential to fund:
* Procurement of 10,000+ drones across all weight classese.gArmy’s 2024 FPV drone tender is a case in point.
* Deployment of 100+ hardened aircraft shelters.
* Creation of training simulators, forward drone bases, and warfare labs.
Countering China & Pakistan: Drones as Equalizers
India can draw direct use cases from current vulnerabilities:
* Countering China’s S-400 in Ladakh- Instead of risking manned aircraft, India can deploy drone swarms to saturate and overwhelm enemy air defense radars.
* Intercepting Pakistani Arms Smuggling- Smart drone radar fences and automated interceptors can patrol the Punjab-Jammu corridor.
* Surgical Strikes 2.0- Precision UCAVs like the Ghatak could replace manned missions like Balakot, ensuring deniability and zero pilot risk.
Conclusion: India Must Lead, Not Lag
The message from Ukraine is unambiguous: Drones are no longer auxiliary,they are central to modern warfare. The enemies India faces are rapidly expanding their drone arsenals and tactics. If India waits, it risks losing its conventional deterrence edge to asymmetric drone warfare.
A dedicated Drone Command, properly funded, jointly staffed, and indigenously empowered, is the next evolutionary step for the Indian military. Time is short. The sky is no longer the limit-it is the battlefield.
“He who controls the drones will control the next war, not just the skies.”
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