Drones and unmanned warfare is the future of conflict. With even smaller countries having drone capabilities, it has become important for nations like India to have not only anti-drone systems but also the capabilities to launch swarm drone attacks. The Indian Army has already been raising units of newly formed Bhairav Commandos and now, a new unit named ‘Shaktibaan’ is being made operational.
According to an ANI report, the Indian Army is raising 15-20 Shaktibaan regiments, which would be equipped with swarm drones, loitering munitions and long-range UAVs, which would be capable of striking targets from 5 kms to 500 Kms.
The Shaktibaan Regiments would be part of the Indian Army’s Regiment of Artillery, and initial units have already been operationalised. The raising of these Shaktibaan regiments is set to bridge the force’s capability gap to strike targets from 50 to 500 kms. For targets beyond 400-500 km, the Indian Army’s Regiment of Artillery has the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and is now also receiving the 120 km-range Pinaka rockets. To equip the first of the Shaktibaan regiments, the Indian Army will shortly issue a tender under a fast-track procedure to procure 850 loitering munitions, along with the required launchers.
The Indian Army has already created a pool of over a lakh drone operatives and has now begun equipping formations with the required arsenal. Along with the Shaktibaan regiments, the Regiment of Artillery will also raise around 35-40 Divyastra batteries as part of artillery divisions, equipped with drones of different types with lethal strike capabilities.
The major force restructuring, conceived by Indian Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi, is part of the forces’ transformation to tackle the challenges of modern warfare. Indian industry will provide the drones through a fast-track process and is expected to deliver them to the Army within the next two years.
The Infantry is also modernising in line with new warfare requirements by raising Ashmi platoons in each Infantry battalion. It has also seen the creation of a new Special Force, Bhairav, to provide the Army’s Special Operations capability at the Corps Headquarters level, with every operative capable of launching drones to hit enemy targets.
Bhairav Commandos have been given specialised weapons and training. They are equipped — similar to some Special Forces — with automatic rifles (AK-patterns mentioned) and designated sniper rifles (Dragunov-type referenced). A key distinguishing capability is drone warfare: these commandos have been trained on both surveillance and attack drones as part of their core skill set. Their training includes operating surveillance drones (sensors, communications) and rapidly converting, readying, and employing attack drones.
The Indian forces used several loitering munitions like the Nagastra, Sky Strikers, Harpy and Harop to target enemy targets during Operation Sindoor to destroy enemy bases and Pakistan Army bases after extension of hostilities by Pakistan.
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