Defence industry to showcase indigenous unmanned systems at Pokhran event

New Delhi: Indigenous unmanned systems, including one-way attack drones, long-range loitering munitions and cargo unmanned aerial vehicles will be showcased at a special event being conducted for the Indian Air Force at the Pokhran firing ranges next month. The event will display indigenously developed products to the air force leadership, with a special focus on long-range systems and swarm drones.

Planned for the third week of September, it will see the air force brass converging at Pokhran amid expected participation by several defence companies and startups working on unmanned systems. The industry is expected to demonstrate a range of one-way attack drones that are being used extensively in the Iran and Ukraine wars, said people aware of the matter. The air force is interested in examining drones with a range of more than 1,000 km that can give live video feedback to the operator.

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Swarm drone systems with a range of more than 300 km are also likely to be showcased, besides expendable drones that can be used for surveillance and intelligence gathering. Given the heavy use of jammers and spoofing equipment in the modern battlefield, the air force is also looking for drones capable of tracking and eliminating electronic warfare emitters.

Besides attack drones, the industry is also expected to demonstrate logistics drones that can carry out a range of missions, including casualty evacuation, medical supplies and delivery of cargo to troops located at extreme altitudes.