The Indian Army has inducted new swarm drone systems into its mechanized forces for offensive and defensive operations.
The development comes as Delhi bolsters its military capabilities amid border disputes with China.
Equipped with the latest technologies, the swarm drone system uses artificial intelligence (AI) software to control several drones from the same station.
The drones are pre-programmed to perform various tasks, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).
In a Twitter post, the Indian Army explained that the swarm drone systems would provide an edge in meeting future security challenges.
It further noted that the development and deployment of the systems are part of the “Make in India” initiative, which seeks to make the Asian nation self-reliant regarding defense.
Additional Capabilities
The recently-inducted system utilizes algorithms to enable drone swarms to automatically distribute tasks and collaboratively navigate areas of interest.
The algorithms also help the drones avoid collisions during movement and effectively search a target area.
Additionally, the swarm drone system has an AI-based automatic target recognition feature to allow the drones to automatically recognize targets such as tanks, vehicles, and enemy personnel.
All data collected are displayed on a control station screen, enhancing the army’s target acquisition capability.
“We need swarm drones to provide tactical commanders with a force multiplier capable of providing surveillance inputs, undertaking close [reconnaissance] of a particular area to confirm inputs received from other ISR resources.” the Indian Army said.
The army has also initiated the “Make-II” project to further improve the country’s drone capabilities.