Saturday, March 29, 2025
Tekanpur, Madhya Pradesh – September 22, 2025 – The Indian Army and Border Security Force (BSF) are preparing a new line of warfare specialists: drone commandos. Training for the first batch is already in progress at the newly established Drone Warfare School inside the BSF Academy at Tekanpur. Within five weeks, 47 soldiers will graduate as drone commandos, equipped to handle surveillance, combat, and counter-drone operations.
BSF Academy ADG Shamsher Singh highlighted that modern conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, have shown the shift from traditional tanks and rifles to drones dominating the battlefield. He emphasized that Indian soldiers must treat drones as standard weapons, mastering them as quickly as they assemble or disassemble an INSAS rifle in 15 seconds.
Singh explained that trained personnel will use drones for border patrol, surveillance, enemy drone neutralization, and even precision bombing when required.
The Drone Warfare School offers two main courses:
Drone Commando (for soldiers)
Drone Warrior (for officers)
The institution is divided into three wings: flight and piloting, strategy, and research & development. Training head Brigadier Rupinder Singh said the curriculum combines technical skills, flying practice, and tactical operations. The school is also preparing trainers who will be deployed to field units to expand drone warfare knowledge across the force.
BSF is rapidly expanding its drone capabilities with support from IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur, developing advanced drones equipped with weapons, bombs, and high-resolution cameras. At Tekanpur’s Rustamji Institute of Technology, a dedicated drone technology lab has been set up to analyze captured Pakistani drones and enhance counter-drone measures.
The BSF’s Police Technology Innovation Centre is also working on attack drones, while senior officers revealed ongoing projects on high-speed weaponized drones capable of long-range surveillance up to 500 km, wire-assisted imaging, and carrying loads up to 200 kg.
Following Operation Sindoor, which exposed vulnerabilities in traditional defense, the Army is now preparing to integrate drones at a massive scale for both defensive and offensive missions. Officials said the technology would significantly strengthen border security and defense operations against evolving threats.
