Indian Army Plans to Acquire Thousands of Drones, Releases Technology Roadmap

The Indian Army plans to induct thousands of drones and loitering munitions to boost its asymmetric warfare capabilities against the backdrop of lessons learned from recent global conflicts and has released a technology roadmap on Tuesday (April 7, 2026).

Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Rahul R. Singh released the document, Indian Army’s Technology Roadmap for Unmanned Aerial Systems and Loitering Munitions in New Delhi on Monday (April 6, 2026).

The document aimed at providing clarity on the Indian Army’s long-term and future capability requirements on unmanned platforms and precision strike systems to the industry, academia, and the research and development ecosystem.

The Indian Army expects the release of the roadmap to drive indigenous innovation to meet the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives, according to Ministry of Defence officials, aware of the matter.

The document laid out the requirements across 30 types of unmanned aerial systems and loitering munitions, spanning surveillance, strike, air defence support, special roles, and logistics applications. The five-year framework is expected to generate nearly 80 variants depending on terrain and operational needs.

The roadmap included details such as system specifications, expected life cycles, approximate quantities, and variant configurations to help guide future development and procurement.

The Army said the roadmap was intended to strengthen collaboration with domestic industry players such as the Drone Federation India and the Army Design Bureau, while accelerating the development of next-generation unmanned systems for future warfare.

The drone technology roadmap came just weeks after India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called for the nation to emerge as the global hub for drone manufacturing by 2030 to meet both domestic military needs and to preserve strategic autonomy.