"Drone Revolution Reshapes Modern Warfare and Defence Procurement Frameworks"
Drone Swarm
a coordinated group of drones that communicate with each other and act collectively without a single command point.
GPS Spoofing
feeding false location data to a drone's navigation system to misdirect or ground it.
For most of the 20th century, military dominance rested on expensive, high-end platforms: combat aircraft, tanks, warships, and precision-guided missiles. Only states with large defence budgets could field these systems at scale. Smaller militaries and non-state actors were pushed toward asymmetric tactics, guerrilla warfare, ambushes, and improvised weapons, to offset the firepower gap. This structural inequality defined the battlefield for decades.
Drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), began as niche reconnaissance tools. Over time, they evolved into armed platforms capable of precision strikes. Early military drones were expensive, large, and operated by major powers. The real disruption came when cheap, commercially available drones were adapted for combat, a shift that fundamentally altered who can project lethal force and at what cost.
India's own drone ecosystem has grown rapidly. The government has committed to a $2 billion domestic drone procurement programme, aimed at building a self-reliant defence industrial base. The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 governs how India buys defence equipment, including drones. It introduced provisions for Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) procurement and financial buffers for technology upgrades, acknowledging that some systems need faster acquisition cycles than traditional capital platforms.
The drone revolution has three defining features that separate it from earlier military technology shifts. First, cost asymmetry: a small drone costing a few hundred dollars can destroy equipment worth millions. This inverts the traditional logic of deterrence, where the side with more expensive hardware usually wins. Second, mass and attrition: drone swarms, large numbers of coordinated, autonomous or semi-autonomous drones, can overwhelm air-defence systems through sheer volume. Individual drones in a swarm communicate with each other, enabling distributed decision-making without a single point of failure. Third, rapid adaptation: the innovation cycle for drones is measured in weeks, not years. In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine switched from radio-controlled drones to fibre-optic-linked drones within months to defeat Russian electronic jamming. Adversaries adapted their countermeasures in six to eight weeks, forcing another round of innovation.
GPS spoofing and electronic warfare (EW) jamming are the two primary countermeasures against drones. GPS spoofing feeds false location data to a drone's navigation system, causing it to veer off course or land in enemy territory. …
Which of the following statements with regard to drone swarms is/are correct?
1.They use Terahertz band of frequency to communicate with the command centre.
2.Individual drones in the swarm can communicate with other drones in the swarm.
3.GPS Spoofing is a commonly used technique to counter drone swarm attack.
Select the answer using the code given below:
Which of the following statements with regard to stealth technology is/are correct?
1.Stealth objects have a very small radar cross-section and are coated with Radar Absorbing Material.
2.Stealth objects can be detected using specific frequencies.
3.Stealth objects are coated with metamaterials to increase the scattering of electromagnetic radiation.
Select the answer using the code given below:
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by our adversaries across the borders to ferry arms/ammunitions, drugs, etc., is a serious threat to the internal security. Comment on the measures being taken to tackle this threat.
Consider the following statements with regard to drone swarms:
1.Individual drones in a swarm can communicate with each other without relying solely on a central command station.
2.GPS Spoofing is a technique used to counter drone swarm attacks by feeding false location data to the drone's navigation system.
3.Drone swarms use the Terahertz band of frequency to communicate with the command centre.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements with regard to stealth technology used in military platforms:
1.Stealth platforms are coated with Radar Absorbing Material (RAM) to minimise their radar cross-section.
2.Stealth objects cannot be detected by any radar system once RAM coating is applied.
3.Certain specific radar frequencies can still detect stealth objects despite RAM coating.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched?
Technique — Purpose in drone warfare
1.GPS Spoofing — Feeding false location data to misdirect a drone's navigation
2.EW Jamming — Disrupting the radio-frequency link between drone and operator
3.Fibre-optic link — Defeating radio-frequency jamming by using a physical cable connection
With reference to modern drone warfare, consider the following statements:
1.The 'cost-exchange problem' refers to a scenario where the cost of intercepting a drone exceeds the cost of the drone itself.
2.Drone swarms are designed to be defeated by a single high-value interceptor missile due to their centralised command structure.
3.Ukraine's switch to fibre-optic-linked drones was a response to adversary electronic warfare jamming of radio-frequency links.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements about India's Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020:
1.It introduced Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) procurement provisions to enable faster acquisition of ready-made technology.
2.It was designed primarily for long-cycle capital acquisitions such as fighter jets and submarines.
3.It mandates that all drone procurement must follow the same timeline as major capital platform acquisitions.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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