Post-Operation Sindoor, armed forces look at next-gen tech on drones

Two months after Operation Sindoor, the Indian armed forces are looking at specific next-generation technologies for drones that can help dodge enemy surveillance and then launch an attack.

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The plan is to get the technology from indigenous sources, including the drone controlling hardware and software. Technologies like these have been developed internationally by a few countries, but the option of foreign sourcing has not been explored.

The forces want three crucial technologies in future drones: secure communication using software defined radios, GPS-free operations and the ability to beat the jamming of radio signals by enemy.

Sources explained the three technologies saying software-defined radios (SDRs) are a game-changer in the drone world — both for controlling drones and detecting them.

Many internationally used military-grade drones employ SDRs for secure, flexible communication between the drone and ground control. SDRs allow real-time switching between frequencies and protocols, which helps avoid the enemy jamming.

The SDR can be tweaked to detect and counter enemy drone and can rapidly adapt to new drone signals and threats. The drones can be programmed and fed with details of all possible flying arsenal of the enemy – planes , copters and drones -- and automatically track these.

The next technology being asked is GPS-free operations. This operates on coordinates or ‘way points’ being pre-fed into the drone’s software to travel towards locations. These are programmed into a drone before take-off. The drone uses these coordinates to autonomously navigate or strike a target without needing real-time manual control or emitting a GPS signal that could be picked up by enemy surveillance.

Such drones have software that can be pre-fed with map of all contours allowing it to navigate. The Iranian drones, that struck Israel were using the same technology.

The third technology is dodging the airspace which is ‘electronically jammed’ along the India-Pakistan or India-China borders. India wants drones that include anti-jamming modules and redundant communication system to maintain control.

During Operation Sindoor, Pakistan used a mix of armed and surveillance drones of Turkish origin. A majority of these were shot down. Also, in the ongoing Russia- Ukraine conflict, jamming and counter-jamming technologies have been used by both sides, constantly adapting their drone fleets.