Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly playing a big role in modern-day warfare. A case in point is ‘Operation Sindoor’. Even when GPS signals were jammed and communications went dark, India’s indigenous drones found their way back, guided not just by remote pilots but also majorly by AI-powered vision systems.
“The integration is evolving fast, AI is becoming central to future warfare strategies, especially for situational intelligence and autonomous mission execution,” said Satyabrata Satapathy, chief executive of BonV Aero, a drone maker.
During ‘Operation Sindoor’, the armed forces deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) sourced from startups across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, which acted as autonomous scouts trained on real combat data in the form of drones.
Defence technology experts said that in the current scenario, AI is being used for processing payload data, such as recognising features, detecting vehicles or troop movement, and performing artillery fire correction.
Today’s drones are designed to handle complex scenarios, said Rahul Singh, co-founder and vice president of engineering at ideaForge, a Mumbai-based UAV manufacturer for defence.
“Navigational autonomy is similar to what you’d expect in a self-driving car. It ensures the drone doesn’t crash or veer off course,” he said. “With vision-based systems, drones recognise terrain patterns using onboard cameras and AI algorithms, allowing them to navigate and return home autonomously, even if GPS is jammed.”
IDeaforge’s solutions—Netra-5 and Switch UAVs, and the swarm drones of Bengaluru-based Newspace Research and Technologies (NRT) were extensively deployed during ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Another startup, Zebu Intelligent Systems, has tethered drones with AI-driven threat detection systems that autonomously identify and track aerial threats such as helicopters, missiles and rogue drones.
For NRT, its Sheshnaag series swarming systems have a layered suite of autonomy and AI/ML (machine learning) algorithms, which enable distributed intelligence, adaptability and mission resilience, said Sameer Joshi, the startup’s founder.
“These drones are trained for coordinated movement and task allocation,” he said, adding that some drones perform strikes, while the others perform reconnaissance, jamming, automatic target recognition (ATR), and conflict resolution, among other tasks. Experts have attributed the AI pivot in defence-tech to multiple startups funded through the government’s iDEX programme. For instance, in electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) systems, where India was previously fully dependent on imports, the country now has domestic capability.
Manu Iyer, an IIT-Madras alumnus who runs Bluehill Capital, an early-stage deeptech VC fund, said defence has always been seen as a “big boys’ game”.
“However, through programmes like ADITI (Acing Development of Innovative Technologies) under iDEX, startups are now receiving grants ranging from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 25 crore,” said Iyer. “The problem statements are clearly defined and give access to work alongside key stakeholders, the army, navy, coast guard, Bharat Electronics, and others.”
The Rs 200 crore GTE (global tender enquiry) restriction has also created a level playing field for Indian startups and manufacturers in high-tech sectors like drones, electronics, and defence tech. It prohibits government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs) from issuing global tenders below Rs 200 crore.
The end-to-end battle
With the battlefield evolving, drone startups are no longer just hardware vendors. They are emerging as full-stack solution providers, integrating AI and delivering real-time intelligence. They are also heavily investing in R&D in their hardware and software stack.
“The battlefield is changing; your hardware might come from one company, the software from another, and the AI agents from a third,” said Smith Shah, president, Drone Federation of India (DFI). He said this fragmented ecosystem is the new normal, and defence needs to start looking at warfare through this lens.
Data training
Industry body DFI, which has about 5,500 members, said today most startups are training their AI systems on a mix of open-source data, simulated environments and proprietary datasets generated through real-world testing.
“There are a lot of companies that are using existing data to create a general model, and then they participate in various demos as well as exercises, and work with the user to generate samples,” the organisation said.
DFI president Shah also said that while over time the entire stack in design, supply and hardware will develop, which will also enhance the capability of other weapons and equipment–supply chain remains an issue. “We’ve seen good outcomes so far, but we need to institutionalise this capability and repeat it consistently.”
Amit Takte, chief technology officer at DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations, said, “Militaries across the world are investing in autonomous systems such as drones, ground robots and unmanned naval vessels.” Countries are seeking strategic advantages in an increasingly contested global landscape, making it critical for India to strengthen its own capabilities.
“The integration is evolving fast, AI is becoming central to future warfare strategies, especially for situational intelligence and autonomous mission execution,” said Satyabrata Satapathy, chief executive of BonV Aero, a drone maker.
During ‘Operation Sindoor’, the armed forces deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) sourced from startups across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, which acted as autonomous scouts trained on real combat data in the form of drones.
Defence technology experts said that in the current scenario, AI is being used for processing payload data, such as recognising features, detecting vehicles or troop movement, and performing artillery fire correction.
Today’s drones are designed to handle complex scenarios, said Rahul Singh, co-founder and vice president of engineering at ideaForge, a Mumbai-based UAV manufacturer for defence.
“Navigational autonomy is similar to what you’d expect in a self-driving car. It ensures the drone doesn’t crash or veer off course,” he said. “With vision-based systems, drones recognise terrain patterns using onboard cameras and AI algorithms, allowing them to navigate and return home autonomously, even if GPS is jammed.”
IDeaforge’s solutions—Netra-5 and Switch UAVs, and the swarm drones of Bengaluru-based Newspace Research and Technologies (NRT) were extensively deployed during ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Another startup, Zebu Intelligent Systems, has tethered drones with AI-driven threat detection systems that autonomously identify and track aerial threats such as helicopters, missiles and rogue drones.
For NRT, its Sheshnaag series swarming systems have a layered suite of autonomy and AI/ML (machine learning) algorithms, which enable distributed intelligence, adaptability and mission resilience, said Sameer Joshi, the startup’s founder.
“These drones are trained for coordinated movement and task allocation,” he said, adding that some drones perform strikes, while the others perform reconnaissance, jamming, automatic target recognition (ATR), and conflict resolution, among other tasks. Experts have attributed the AI pivot in defence-tech to multiple startups funded through the government’s iDEX programme. For instance, in electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) systems, where India was previously fully dependent on imports, the country now has domestic capability.
Manu Iyer, an IIT-Madras alumnus who runs Bluehill Capital, an early-stage deeptech VC fund, said defence has always been seen as a “big boys’ game”.
“However, through programmes like ADITI (Acing Development of Innovative Technologies) under iDEX, startups are now receiving grants ranging from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 25 crore,” said Iyer. “The problem statements are clearly defined and give access to work alongside key stakeholders, the army, navy, coast guard, Bharat Electronics, and others.”
The Rs 200 crore GTE (global tender enquiry) restriction has also created a level playing field for Indian startups and manufacturers in high-tech sectors like drones, electronics, and defence tech. It prohibits government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs) from issuing global tenders below Rs 200 crore.
The end-to-end battle
With the battlefield evolving, drone startups are no longer just hardware vendors. They are emerging as full-stack solution providers, integrating AI and delivering real-time intelligence. They are also heavily investing in R&D in their hardware and software stack.
“The battlefield is changing; your hardware might come from one company, the software from another, and the AI agents from a third,” said Smith Shah, president, Drone Federation of India (DFI). He said this fragmented ecosystem is the new normal, and defence needs to start looking at warfare through this lens.
Data training
Industry body DFI, which has about 5,500 members, said today most startups are training their AI systems on a mix of open-source data, simulated environments and proprietary datasets generated through real-world testing.
“There are a lot of companies that are using existing data to create a general model, and then they participate in various demos as well as exercises, and work with the user to generate samples,” the organisation said.
DFI president Shah also said that while over time the entire stack in design, supply and hardware will develop, which will also enhance the capability of other weapons and equipment–supply chain remains an issue. “We’ve seen good outcomes so far, but we need to institutionalise this capability and repeat it consistently.”
Amit Takte, chief technology officer at DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations, said, “Militaries across the world are investing in autonomous systems such as drones, ground robots and unmanned naval vessels.” Countries are seeking strategic advantages in an increasingly contested global landscape, making it critical for India to strengthen its own capabilities.
