India Pursues Armed Drones and C-UAS Upgrades

India's push for drone capabilities includes significant foreign procurement and a major domestic upgrade initiative known as "Project Cheetah." This long-pending project aims to arm its fleet of around 90 Israeli-made Heron UAVs with laser-guided bombs, anti-tank missiles, and other precision munitions at an estimated cost of over ₹3,500 crore. The upgrades, handled in partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), will also equip the drones with advanced reconnaissance payloads and satellite communication systems. On the acquisition front, the Indian Army is inducting the Israeli Hermes 900 Starliner, locally designated Drishti-10. These medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drones are being co-manufactured by Adani Defence & Aerospace, which has achieved 70% indigenization through a technology transfer with Israel's Elbit Systems. The Hermes 900 offers over 30 hours of flight endurance and is designed for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Defensively, the Army is deploying "Project Akashteer," an AI-enabled, automated air defence control and reporting system developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Valued at ₹1,982 crore, Akashteer integrates Army and Air Force sensors to create a unified air picture, automating the entire air defence workflow to enable faster responses to threats like hostile drones and aircraft. This system is designed to provide seamless situational awareness down to the lowest operational units. To counter the specific threat of small drones to armored vehicles, India has issued requests for 325 mobile counter-UAS units. These systems will be fitted on T-90/T-72 tanks and BMP-2/2K infantry vehicles and are required to have both soft-kill (jamming, spoofing) and hard-kill capabilities, including the ability to cue existing machine guns and cannons. The specifications call for an open architecture to allow for future AI-based upgrades. The modernization effort is also bolstered by a significant push for indigenous drone manufacturing. The Army has placed orders worth over ₹5,000 crore for "Made in India" drones, leveraging emergency procurement powers. This includes a ₹137 crore contract with ideaForge for their battle-tested hybrid Mini UAVs. This domestic focus aims to create secure supply chains and tailor systems to India's unique operational environments. In parallel, U.S. defence tech firm Shield AI has secured a contract to supply the Indian Army with its V-BAT vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones. The deal includes Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy software, which enables platforms to operate autonomously in contested environments, and a software development kit to support India's sovereign development of mission-specific AI applications for the drones.