India on Friday successfully carried out the first flight of an “Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator”. The aircraft, launched by Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Establishment under the purview of the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is a scaled-down version of the upcoming combat drone named ‘ghatak’. The flight took place at the aeronautical test range based at Chitradurga in the southern Indian State of Karnataka.
Unmanned aircraft systems commonly referred to as drones are democratising the sky and enabling new participants in aviation. Drone technology plays a pivotal role in the fields of defence, disaster management, agriculture, tourism, film and entertainment. The enthusiasm surrounding drone technology in India indicates that it could soon become an emerging sector of employment generation in India. According to civil aviation ministry’s estimate, India’s drone sector is all set to achieve a total turnover of Rs 120 to Rs 150 billion by 2026 from its current turnover of about Rs 800 million. In the recent past, the central government has undertaken a series of reform measures to promote India’s upcoming drone industry. The new drone laws have started facilitating traction in the market with numerous companies partnering to disseminate technical knowledge as well as attract funds.
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India is developing its technology very fast, and many of the strategic and developmental terrains which looked impossible to achieve are appearing within our reach. Now with agricultural drones, one can technologically tag it to spread seeds in mountainous areas, it’s not just for agriculture but also for an environment where we can grow trees in areas where there is an actual requirement, this is a futuristic technology. When we talk about unmanned, one of the critical factors is taking off the man and in this taking of the man is done by an electronic chip which becomes the critical part of the technology. In the case of a laptop or a desktop, we have Intel’s chip or in the mobile, we have Qualcomm chip. In drones, there is scope for India to go into the chip level and lead the world where we are already contemporary in terms of technology in many ways. Now the other area which is of very great importance for the drone industry is defence. Unmanned technology has become very critical which we saw in Azerbaijanian and Armenian war and subsequently now in the and Russian war. Like the drones delivers for the civilian side it’s also important to keep the defence perspective in mind and build this technology going forward for both civilian and defence use. As far as an industry perspective is concerned India is one of the largest markets in terms of usage of technology, we’ve seen it in digital payment systems. Indian companies have a huge potential to grow in this space and to capture not only the Indian markets but also lead the world. So, the vision of making India the ‘Drone hub of 2030’ is very much feasible and very much within the reach.
The Indian drone industry has already proven its capability to develop drones by competing with global OEMs. This was visible last year when the Indian army received military drones. Operating at high altitudes and in a hot environment are typically tough conditions which only India faces. Indigenous manufacturers have demonstrated and developed some of the capabilities which Indian armed forces were looking for. Another area is Swarm technology and Counter Drone technology which emerged out of ‘Meher Baba Swarm Drone Competition’ and IDEX Counter Drone Competition which was initiated by the Indian air force in 2018, has become greatly successful. The regulatory framework i.e ‘Drone Rules 2021’ the way it has evolved to the emerging situation is praiseworthy and with the latest amendments, all the issues which were raised have been taken care of. There are so many ministries and departments involved which need technology, like weather forecasting, agriculture ministry, and defence ministry.
In the defence sector now, we are moving from the reconnaissance role of drones to the weapon carrier role of drones. So, this is the new stage in warfare, a new stage of security, we need to develop technology to suit this need which is now the global trend. To bolster the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has begun a preliminary process that will ultimately develop into acquiring autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) or underwater drones with twin surveillance and strike capabilities.
The government is coming out with several financial incentives and already few companies have been listed. Some startups are also doing well in this field, so now we have to focus on engine and design. This situation has brought us to an exciting stage and we need to capitalize on it by upscaling the performance. Yes, it is an exciting stage when we think about drone technology or the drone sector in India. A lot of opportunities, policy-wise lot of decisions have been taken, reform measures being put in place to ensure that there is an ecosystem to give further impetus to the technology aspect as well as the investment and ultimately the application of that technology for the benefit of the common man.
(The author is an Advocate by profession)
