New Delhi: Indian armed forces successfully intercepted and neutalised more than 600 drones launched by Pakistan during the recent standoff between the two nations. The conflict escalated following India’s targeted airstrikes on terror-linked sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in reponse to April 22 attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists.
The drone threats were met with an indigenous counter-drone system developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Inducted into the armed forces earlier this year, the system was used extensively across Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan during the recent escalation. It was credited with detecting, tracking and neutralising a range of aerial threats in real time, including both surveillance drones and weaponised unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The defence system is a multi-layered drone detection and interdiction platform that combines radar surveillance, radio frequency (RF) monitoring, electro-optical tracking and laser-based destruction. Developed over a two-year period by multiple DRDO laboratories – the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment in Bengaluru, the Defence Electronics Research Laboratory and the Centre for High Energy Systems and Sciences in Hyderabad and the Instruments Research and Development Establishment in Dehradun – the system represents a major step forward in India’s autonomous defence capabilities.
Manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), the system has been integrated across the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. Its counter-drone mechanism begins with the use of soft-kill technologies such as RF jamming and GPS spoofing, aimed at disabling navigation systems mid-flight. If these measures fail, the platform shifts to a hard-kill approach, using a high-energy laser weapon to physically neutralise incoming threats.
According to sources familiar with the system, the laser component, developed in Hyderabad, achieved high accuracy in destroying drones within a four-kilometre range.
The system is specifically designed to counter the increasing use of low-cost drone swarm tactics, which have become a common feature of asymmetric warfare. Many of the drones neutralised in recent days were reported to be of Turkish and Chinese origin and were deployed in coordinated swarms. The Indian defence apparatus responded by deploying the new system in both static and mobile formats, protecting border installations and sensitive airspace.
Unlike conventional missile-based air defence systems, the laser-based approach enables sustained use without the logistical burden of replenishing munitions, offering a cost-effective solution to continuous aerial threats. The system is also modular and can be mounted on vehicles or deployed in fixed installations, making it adaptable to both urban and battlefield environments.
This development is part of a broader push for self-reliance in defence technology. Apart from BEL, private Indian firms such as Adani Defence and Larsen & Toubro have participated in the counter-drone programme. A mobile variant of the system developed by Adani Defence was recently unveiled at Aero India 2025, highlighting the private sector’s growing role in India’s defence innovation ecosystem.
India now joins a select group of countries – alongside the United States and Israel – that have successfully fielded domestically developed counter-drone systems in active conflict zones. Officials confirmed that the DRDO is currently working on a next-generation variant of the system, which is expected to improve detection range, threat processing speed and precision targeting.
The successful deployment of the indigenous anti-drone system during the recent hostilities highlights its strategic utility in modern warfare, particularly in scenarios involving high-volume, low-cost aerial threats. The system’s performance during this period has been termed operationally significant, marking a notable advance in India’s defensive preparedness and indigenous technological capacity.
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