India Focuses on AI-Powered Micro-Drones for Individual Enemy Soldier Elimination, Swarm Attacks, and Precision Kamikaze Strikes Against Pakistan

India is rapidly advancing its military capabilities with a focus on small, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered drones designed to target individual enemy soldiers, conduct coordinated swarm attacks, and perform precision kamikaze strikes.

This strategic shift, prominently showcased at Aero India 2025 held in Bengaluru, represents a significant evolution in modern warfare, particularly in the context of potential conflicts along the Line of Control (LoC).

The Indian Army's focus on micro-drones contrasts sharply with Pakistan's current reliance on larger, medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

While Pakistan's arsenal, including the Chinese Wing Loong II and CH-4, and the Turkish Bayraktar TB2, is effective for surveillance and strikes on fixed targets, these platforms are less capable of engaging individual soldiers in close-quarters combat. India's approach aims to leverage advanced technology to neutralize threats at the most granular level.

Several indigenous UAV systems were highlighted at the airshow, demonstrating a blend of autonomy, AI, and soldier-centric design. Key innovations include:

• MBC2 Swarm Drone System: Developed by NewSpace Research & Technologies, these palm-sized drones (under 2 kg) can operate in coordinated groups of up to 50 units. Equipped with AI-driven target recognition and explosive payloads, they can neutralize individual soldiers from 50-100 meters. Live demonstrations at Aero India showcased their autonomous "hunter-killer" capability.
• Autonomous Multi-Mode Amphibious Drone: This versatile platform, a collaboration between DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and a private startup, can operate on land, water, and in the air. It provides real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) feeds to ground troops and can execute kamikaze strikes on identified enemy soldiers using thermal imaging.
• TEN AI Weapon System (TAIWS): Presented by Adani Defence, TAIWS integrates a nano-UAV with an AI-powered battlefield control system. This hand-launched drone uses facial recognition and motion tracking to target individual soldiers up to 300 meters away, delivering a 500-gram explosive charge. It is designed to be resistant to electronic jamming.
• Loitering Munitions ("Vyom Kavach Lite"): Zen Technologies showcased its "Vyom Kavach Lite," a soldier-portable UAV system weighing just 3 kg. These drones can loiter for 30 minutes, identify infantry targets using high-resolution optics and AI, and then perform a high-speed (100 km/h) kamikaze attack with a shaped charge effective against body armor.

Pakistan's UAV strategy, often demonstrated in joint exercises with China, emphasizes larger platforms for strategic surveillance and strikes. This approach leaves a vulnerability in countering India's infantry-focused drone technology.

Along the LoC, where skirmishes often involve small units in challenging terrain, India's micro-UAVs could directly target individual Pakistani soldiers, circumventing radar systems designed for larger aircraft.

Simulations conducted at Aero India 2025 highlighted this potential asymmetry. A mock LoC encounter demonstrated how Indian micro-drones could effectively neutralize a platoon-sized Pakistani force, while a simulated strike by a larger Pakistani UAV was ineffective against dispersed Indian infantry.

India's advancements in drone technology align with the "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" initiative, with over 80% indigenous content in these systems. Indian companies like NewSpace, Adani Defence, and Zen Technologies, supported by initiatives like iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence), are driving this technological push. The Indian Army's roadmap reportedly includes plans to induct 5,000 such micro-UAVs by 2030.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) also operates larger UAVs, such as the recently approved acquisition of 31 MQ-9B Predator drones from the United States, according to a Feb 2024 report by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

This layered approach, combining both large and small UAVs, creates a more comprehensive and adaptable aerial strategy. This contrasts with Pakistan's reliance on its approximately 200 MALE UAVs, offering a more complex challenge to Pakistan's current military doctrine.

 

[P2S2]

It would serve foreign enemies to target both the belligerents based on race and provide AD to its forces in encouraging occupation by foreigners. Think seriously about subsequent consequences and speed up efforts to unify our Desh before mobile phones start to explode, killing or maiming our Desis.

 

[Somebody]

There are good signs, but we need to make different varieties in hundreds of Thousands of much cheaper FPV drones that carrys a granade or mine, both Russia and Ukraine use hundreds of these drones each day.

 

[Dr]

Will 5000 be enough? When in the Russia-Ukraine war 5000 are used in a month, so it's high time Indian defence bosses wake up & have a plan. If there is a war, we are able to manufacture small & inexpensive kamikaze drones in the thousands & just like these countries, are also using off-the-shelf drones, which must be available in huge numbers.

 

[Leo red]

The future is drones, and not stealth fighters or tanks. It's better to invest immediately in AI-enabled and auto-target acquisition drones. Also, smart drones which can travel through jungles and bushes, or above water on the sea, etc., and attack targets autonomously. Long-range submersible drones and sea-skimming drones will be uncharted territory. Think of drones attacking important assets of enemies from the sea. Launching far from the ocean, ships can attack a large number of assets like supply depots, oil maintenance yards, or even simple watch towers, or the fin of a submarine, and disabling it permanently.

 

[Hari Sud]

Which of these drones will destroy the tank in Pakistani possession.

 

[Rational Guy]

Small drones are better as they can evade air defence.

 

[Sandeep]

India needs a variety of drones. We need to 100% indigenously design, develop and manufacture HALE, MALE, surveillance drones, swarm drones and smaller expendable drones.