India’s intent on offensive operations showcased by Army’s drone swarms

New Delhi, Jan 16: The Indian Army on Friday carried out a live demonstration of Drone Swarming capability using 75 indigenously designed and developed drones which executed an array of Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled simulated offensive missions and close support tasks during the Army Day Parade held at Delhi Cantt on 15 January 2021.

The Army Day parade in Delhi saw 75 small to medium size drones execute several Artificial Intelligence enabled simulated offensive and combat support operations. These ranges from Kamikaze strikes to paradrop and hover and drop missions.

The use of drone swarms is still a new fighting concept in India. The use of this can overwhelm an adversary's air defence capabilities.

This demonstration is a recognition of the Indian Army's steady embrace of emerging and disruptive technologies to transform itself from a manpower intensive to a technology enabled force to meet future security challenges.

The Indian Army is investing heavily into Artificial Intelligence (AI), Autonomous Weapon Systems, Quantum Technologies, Robotics, Cloud Computing and Algorithm Warfare in order to achieve a convergence between the Army's warfighting philosophies and military attributes of these technologies.

The Indian Army has undertaken a wide array of technology initiatives in coordination with Dreamers, Startups, MSMEs, Private Sector, Academia, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs). One such project is the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Offensive Drone Operations which has been incubated with an Indian Start Up. This project symbolises the beginning of the Indian Army's tryst with autonomy in weapon platforms and showcases the Army's commitment towards merging the cutting edge of digital technologies with its human resource, the government said.