Drone technology

Story hook

On the night of 27 June 2021, two low-flying drones crossed the Indian border into Jammu, dropped two crude IED payloads on the Indian Air Force station at Jammu, and disappeared back into Pakistan-administered Kashmir before any radar picked them up. One of the IEDs hit the roof of a hangar but caused only superficial damage. The other landed in an open area. No one was killed. But India's defence establishment was rattled — this was the first weaponised drone attack on Indian military soil, and the drones had been sub-2 kg, off-the-shelf consumer-grade, flown by hand-pilots kilometres away.

Three months later, on 25 August 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the Drone Rules 2021 — replacing the restrictive UAS Rules 2021 that had been published just six months earlier. The new rules slashed compliance from 25 forms to 5, fee from ₹5,000-₹1,00,000 to ₹100-₹500, removed restrictions on drone export, and introduced a colour-coded airspace map. Three weeks later, the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for drones was announced — ₹120 crore for Indian drone makers, the smallest PLI in absolute size but the highest as percentage of sector revenue.

By 2025, India had 600+ registered drone manufacturers, 4 lakh+ trained drone pilots, the world's largest agricultural drone deployment programme — and a still-unresolved counter-drone crisis along the western border.

Why this matters for UPSC

Drones (UAVs / RPAS) are a must-know topic — appearing in UPSC Prelims and Mains every year since 2021. Examiners test definitions, Drone Rules 2021 specifics (weight categories, zones, certifications), Kisan Drone scheme, counter-drone technology, and dual-use / security concerns. Mains and Interview also probe legal-regulatory architecture, defence applications (Heron, Rustom-II, Swarm Drones), and the import-substitution / export-readiness debate.