In May of this year, one of the most severe conflicts in decades erupted between India and Pakistan, with both countries deploying advanced fighter jets, conventional missiles, and artillery. This four-day battle also marked the first large-scale use of drones by both India and Pakistan.
Following the announcement of a ceasefire by the United States, the fighting came to a halt. According to interviews conducted by Reuters with 15 individuals including security officials, industry executives, and analysts from both countries, India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed nations, have seen their defense spending surpass $96 billion last year and are now caught up in an arms race involving drones.
Two sources indicated that these countries are expected to increasingly utilize drones as a means of targeting without causing casualties or escalating conflicts uncontrollably.
Smit Shah from the Drone Federation India stated that India plans to significantly invest in its domestic drone industry, with a potential allocation of up to $470 million within the next 12 to 24 months, roughly three times the pre-war level. The federation represents over 550 companies and regularly communicates with the Indian government.
India recently approved approximately $4.6 billion in emergency military procurement funds, corroborating undisclosed projections from two other industry executives. According to informed Indian officials, a portion of the additional funds will be directed towards combat and reconnaissance drones.
Vishal Saxena, Vice President of ideaForge Technology in India, mentioned that the country’s defense procurement usually involves lengthy bureaucratic processes, but officials are currently expediting drone manufacturer engagements for testing and demonstrations at an unprecedented pace.
Meanwhile, a knowledgeable Pakistani source revealed that the Pakistani Air Force is focused on acquiring more drones to mitigate risks faced by its high-end aircraft.
During the recent conflict, both India and Pakistan deployed state-of-the-art fourth-generation fighter jets. However, due to financial constraints, Pakistan has fewer fighter jets compared to India.
It was disclosed that Pakistan is relying on collaborations with Baykar, a Turkish defense contractor, in establishing a production line for the YIHA-III drone locally. The source also mentioned that a drone can be manufactured within two to three days.
The Pakistani military declined to respond to Reuters’ inquiries. Similarly, the Indian Defense Ministry and Baykar have not commented on requests for statements.
Walter Ladwig III, a political scientist at King’s College London, suggested that both India and Pakistan view drone strikes as a means to exert military pressure without immediately escalating into full-scale conflict.
The battles in May marked the fiercest clashes between India and Pakistan in this century, with the initial attack on April 22 by armed insurgents in the disputed Kashmir region resulting in 26 deaths, mostly Indian tourists.
The Indian government attributed the massacre to “terrorists” supported by Pakistan, a claim vehemently denied by Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister Modi vowed retaliation, carrying out airstrikes on alleged “terrorist infrastructure” within Pakistan on May 7.
Indian officials reported that on the evening of May 8, Pakistan dispatched a large number of drones along the 1,700-kilometer (772-mile) frontier shared with India, with 300 to 400 drones advancing along 36 locations to surveil India’s air defense systems.
According to two Pakistani sources, Pakistan relies on Turkish-made YIHA-III and Asisguard Songar drones, as well as domestically produced Shahpar-II drones by the state-owned Global Industrial & Defense Solutions Group.
However, as per Indian officials, most of these deployed drones were neutralized by India’s Cold War-era anti-aircraft guns equipped with modern military radars and communication networks developed by the state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited.
The Pakistani sources denied claims that a significant number of drones were shot down on May 8, although India did not suffer significant losses from that drone attack.
Retired Indian Brigadier Anshuman Narang, an expert in drones at the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies in Delhi, noted that India’s use of anti-drone high-altitude guns, not designed for anti-drone warfare, had unexpectedly proven effective, performing ten times better than anticipated.
According to an Indian source and two Pakistani sources, India also sent Israeli “Harop” drones, Polish “WARMATE” drones, and indigenous drones into Pakistani airspace. Some of these drones were utilized for precise strikes on military and insurgent infrastructure, as stated by two Indian officials.
Two Pakistani security sources confirmed the deployment of a significant number of “Harop” drones by India, which are long-range loitering drones manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries. These drones, also known as kamikaze drones, hover over a target before crashing and detonating upon impact.
A third Pakistani source mentioned that decoy radars were strategically positioned in some areas to lure “Harop” drones. Alternatively, they waited for the drones to approach the end of their flight time, descend below 3,000 feet, and then downed the drones.
Both sides claimed victory in the use of drones. Walter Ladwig from King’s College London pointed out that India successfully struck infrastructure within Pakistan with minimal risks to personnel or primary platforms. He noted that for Pakistan’s military, who claimed to have used drones to attack Indian defense facilities, drone strikes allowed them to signal their actions while attracting less international attention than conventional methods.