New Delhi: India is developing a new generation of indigenous border-surveillance and counter-drone technologies, with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) working towards a more integrated and autonomous security architecture for the country’s challenging border environment.
According to Dr B.K. Das, Director General of DRDO’s Electronics & Communication Systems (ECS) cluster, the organisation is pursuing next-generation solutions that can strengthen surveillance while detecting, tracking and neutralising emerging aerial threats. Current development efforts involve technologies including artificial intelligence, advanced radar, electro-optical and infrared sensors, electronic warfare and directed-energy systems.
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The approach reflects a shift from relying on individual sensors towards multi-sensor, networked surveillance, particularly against small, low-flying and difficult-to-detect drones. DRDO's counter-drone architecture combines radar and RF-based detection with electro-optical identification, communications intelligence and electronic countermeasures. Depending on the threat, systems can employ soft-kill measures such as RF/GNSS jamming and hard-kill options including laser-directed energy weapons.
DRDO has already demonstrated several components of this ecosystem. Its D4 Counter Drone System, developed by four DRDO laboratories—LRDE, DLRL, CHESS and IRDE—provides capabilities to detect, track, identify and neutralise small and micro UAV threats. The system received a Gold-category SKOCH Award in 2026.
The organisation is also pushing directed-energy technologies. DRDO's Mk-II(A) high-energy laser system has demonstrated the ability to engage fixed-wing drones and counter multiple-drone attacks. The technology is being developed as a potentially lower-cost method of defeating aerial threats compared with conventional interceptors.
Another emerging area is high-power microwave technology, which could provide another means of disrupting the electronics of hostile drones. DRDO's recent SHIELD programme is focused on developing an evaluation system for understanding how high-power microwave radiation affects electronic systems—work that can support both future counter-drone capabilities and protection of Indian military electronics.
The push is also increasingly involving Indian industry. In 2025, DRDO and Adani Defence & Aerospace unveiled a vehicle-mounted counter-drone system integrating radar, SIGINT, electro-optical sensors, jammers, a high-energy laser and a 7.62-mm weapon on a mobile 4×4 platform.
The larger objective is to build a layered indigenous border-security architecture capable of combining persistent surveillance, automated threat identification, electronic warfare and physical interception. Such a system would be particularly relevant as drones become increasingly important for reconnaissance, smuggling, precision attacks and battlefield intelligence.
For India, the development represents a broader move towards AI-enabled, sensor-fused and directed-energy-enabled border defence, reducing dependence on imported systems while creating a domestic ecosystem for next-generation surveillance and counter-UAS technologies.
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