The Pokhran desert has seen numerous high-decibel events over the years nuclear tests in 1998, firepower on the fighter planes and tank columns rolling past visiting dignitaries. It hosted something quieter this week, but very significant in terms of the next conflict in which India fights. Indian Air Force today inaugurated its maiden three-day exhibition and live-trial event on all matters related to drones and pursuit systems at Dronathon-2026 in a dedicated premises, all devoted to unmanned aircraft and various systems to shoot them down. The Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, inaugurated the event at the Pokhran Field Firing Range, Jaisalmer, where he released IAF's Unmanned and Autonomous Systems Roadmap to provide industry with clarity on the Air Force's requirements in these areas over the next few years.

This is unlike the Pokhran known for fighter-jet flypasts, because of what it doesn't include. No Sukhois were seen screaming overhead and no missile launches were made for the cameras. But over 20 Indian defence firms, start-ups, small manufacturers and public-sector organisations spent the day testing their reconnaissance drones, loitering munitions, electronic-warfare payloads and swarm platforms in the desert, with a view to seeing how the counter-drone systems fared in live conditions. The line-up of officials present indicates that it is not just a show for one service, but a concerted effort to bring the entire security establishment on-board a single procurement roadmap.

The key demonstration featured on the first day was a system developed by the centre and named Vayu UTtaM (Unmanned Traffic Management platform) which tracked military and civilian drones in real-time during the trial. That's a distinction that is not to be taken lightly. The air force has admitted that as the volume of drone flight steadily increases across Indian skies, whether it be for agricultural use, logistics or inspection of infrastructure and military purposes, the issue of regulating who is allowed to fly and who is not has become as important as developing better guns. The IAF has claimed that the technology can be applied beyond the battlefield, to civil aviation and to defence of critical infrastructure, making it more of a public safety application than a military one.

It is not a coincidence. Over the last few weeks, India has been increasing the tempo of the drone initiative with the volume of fresh drone firings since the May 2019 Indo-Pak military standoff, which was short but intense, rising at an unusually high rate. This event, combined with years of monitoring Ukraine using cheap first-person-view drones as a counter to a far greater force, and Azerbaijan's application of Turkish and Israeli drones in 2020 to break Armenian armour, has made Indian planners believe that unmanned systems are no longer an auxiliary capability. They're turning out to be the dominant advantage in low-intensity and grey-zone warfare, which India is most likely to engage in in the immediate future. Officials have said that a second edition of Dronathon is being planned within the next six months or so, indicating that this isn't a once-a-year event.

The urge to join is a genuine one with tangible payoffs. The domestic market for drones and counter-drones currently comprises approximately $1.27 billion for this year alone, with the defence and security segment seeing the highest growth at more than 26 percent a year, industry trackers estimate. Total estimated procurement levels will increase from around 8,000 2017 units per year to 17,000 by 2030, leading to the wider civilian and defence UAV market approaching $1.39 billion last year. That share will increase from roughly $598 million in 2025 to nearly $1.9 billion by 2034 a market segment that is exclusively military related.

The Production Linked Incentive scheme for drones, the iDEX innovation fund that has already facilitated the procurement of dozens of drone prototypes worth nearly ₹3,850 crore, and a fresh allocation of ₹2,000 crore last year to spur domestic drone manufacturing have all been geared towards developing an indigenous supply chain without reliance on imports. In January, the Army and Navy signed about ₹30,000 crore worth of contracts for the purchase of drones with Hindustan Aeronautics alone. A plan for another PLI 2.0 worth of ₹1,500 crore is said to be in the works to maintain the momentum.

All of these take place in a context. In 2022, the Indian government blocked the import of foreign drones and went so far as to outlaw Chinese parts for military platforms, as the Chinese manufacturer DJI had a virtual monopoly on the commercial drone industry, at least in India. What's not as much about competing with any other opponent's kit as it is about not being strategically tied up with a vendor you don't control for a technology that in the trenches of Ukraine and border skirmishes in Pakistan has proven to be the difference between victory and defeat in the early hours of a conflict.

Turkey has invested in developing an entire export industry and a certain degree of geopolitical leverage based on the Bayraktar TB2, while Israel and the United States have long controlled the high end of the market. Now, India's assessment is that a nation of its size and potential threat should not be bystanders and wait for some to build capabilities.

The Pokhran event for which the army had come was not about a finished arsenal, but was instead intended to evaluate the stress of the more than three hundred drone manufacturers in the Indian industry to see who can do it off the trade show's controlled stage. The accompanying roadmap provides industry a more clear roadmap to aim for.