Flying SWARMS

Smruti D

At the Cariappa Parade Ground on January 15, the audience was set to experience a novel event. On the left and right sides of the ground stood tangos for mock operations that were about to take place. At the parade, apart from the usual display of land and air equipment, the Indian Army displayed swarm-drone operations consisting of 75 drones.

India’s indigenous UAV Netra V

Like birds in the sky, these unmanned, indigenous platforms came flying low. The mother drones headed towards the targets, gradually releasing child drones consisting of destructive capabilities. One by one, these drones released fire and carried out the simulated ‘kamikaze’ or suicide operations, destroying enemy targets which included mock-ups of fuel depots, terror hideout, enemy tanks and radar positions, with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Apart from these simulated offensive ops, the drones also carried out close-support missions, delivering logistics and medical aid. As India faces border tensions on its western as well as northern borders, it becomes imperative for the Indian defence establishment to induct advanced technology that would support future warfare.

Recently, while speaking at a webinar, the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. M.M. Naravane, highlighted the importance disruptive technology in today’s day and age. Talking about how new-age strike capabilities can suppress an enemy’s air defence, he said, “It is also no longer necessary to score a physical hit to destroy a target. Offensive capabilities in the digital domain can effectively neutralise satellites and networks, denying them at critical juncture to decisively alter the course of the conflict,” he said. He further added that large platforms, which were once the mainstay of the 20th century battlefield, such as the main battle tanks, fighter aircraft and large surface combatants, have been rendered relatively less significant in the face of emerging battlefield challenges in newer domains. He stressed on how the Indian Army had been steadily inducting niche capabilities to enhance combat proficiencies in Multi-Domain Operations.

The term SWARM stands for ‘Stabilised Weapon And Reconnaissance Mount’. The Indian Army looks to procure more such drones in the coming time. The drones that were demonstrated at the parade were indigenously developed by the army in collaboration with a Bangalore-based start-up NewSpace Research and Technologies. The army, in the coming times looks to further increase the number by 1000. During the demonstration, the swarm co