Shield AI has established a wholly owned subsidiary, Shield AI India, to support software integration, engineering, and autonomy development, and to grow indigenous engineering and software development capabilities for India. The entity will operate across two offices – the first one in New Delhi, which is operational now, and another in Bengaluru, which is scheduled to open later this summer, thereby enabling closer collaboration with local partners while contributing to the growth of India’s high-technology ecosystem in AI and autonomous systems.

India is central to Shield AI’s global mission, said Ryan Tseng. “The depth of engineering talent here combined with our existing strategic partnerships and the trust placed in us by the Indian Armed Forces make India one of the most important partners in our long-term plans. Shield AI India is our commitment to building lasting capability in the country — not just selling to it.”

“Being a strong partner means being present and working alongside our customers,” said Sarjan Shah, managing director for India at Shield AI. “With our New Delhi office, and with our plans to expand soon in Bengaluru as well, we are strengthening our ability to support India’s autonomy priorities and partner on systems that can be built, deployed, and sustained within the country, while growing a pipeline of Indian engineers and developers who can build and evolve mission autonomy on Indian terms.”

“The U.S.-India relationship is something I was proud to support in my role as INDOPACOM commander, and given what Shield AI is doing in, with, and for India, I could not be prouder to support our partnership. Done right, the U.S.-India relationship can generate vital strategic, defense and economic value for both nations, and we look forward to supporting that overall goal,” said Aquilino.

In November 2024, the company announced a strategic partnership with JSW Defence Pvt. Ltd. to indigenize and manufacture its V-BAT unmanned aircraft system. As part of a $90 million investment, JSW Defence began construction of a large-scale V-BAT production facility at EMC Maheshwaram, Hyderabad in December 2025. The V-BAT production facility being set up by JSW is designed to serve the needs of the Indian Armed Forces and also function as a global production hub.

Shield AI’s expanded India presence also supports its ongoing work with the Indian Armed Forces. Earlier this year, India selected Shield AI to provide Hivemind powered V-BATs and, in addition, licenses for Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy software for the Indian Army.

V-BAT is a Group 3 vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAS with a ducted-fan design, more than 12 hours of endurance, and a heavy-fuel (JP-8) engine. Proven in the electronic warfare battlefield, V-BAT delivers intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and targeting at significantly lower cost and logistical burden than larger drones. Under partnership with the Indian Army, Hivemind autonomy will integrate onto V-BAT as an autonomous pilot, enabling AI-powered perception, cognition, and beyond-visual-range operations. The company has also announced the development of a next-generation VTOL autonomous combat aircraft, X-BAT.

The post Shield AI expands India presence with New Delhi office appeared first on IMR.

These handheld anti-drone guns will be useful for patrolling teams in border areas who sometimes see drones flying but could not do more as it was out of their firing range. In 2022 alone so far, around 60 drone sightings of unmanned aerial vehicles near Punjab were reported and many more remained unreported.

Anti-Drone Gun should be hand-held, easily transportable and operable in day and night environment. The system should be easily deployable with ease and should be a lightweight Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) countermeasure solution designed for one hand or two hand operations.

The system should be able to cut off communication between the visually detected UAV and the remote controller by jamming data links to the UAV/RC. In terms of operational capability, it should be capable of neutralizing the flying object (UAV) or group of UAVs (Swarm attack) from a distance (as specified or better) of at least 2,500 metres. “The gun should be capable to neutralize the flying object by jamming its radio and GPS links and force landing the UAV at its place of operation within 10 seconds after detection,” the BSF document sent to the Home ministry reads.

The post BSF to Get Counter-Drone Devices appeared first on IMR.

The notification comes days after the ministry of civil aviation issued the drone certification scheme on January 25 to stipulate minimum safety and quality requirements to boost indigenous manufacturing. The certification scheme will help in simpler, faster and transparent type-certification of drones.

Since August last year, the government has issued liberalised drone rules, a drone airspace map, extended the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to drone manufacturing and introduced a single-window DigitalSky platform to help the drone manufacturing industry grow.

According to the government last year, the domestic drone manufacturing industry is expected to grow from a combined turnover of about ₹80 crore to ₹900 crore in three years.

On September 16 last year, civil aviation minister JyotiradityaScindia said the combined turnover of the drone sector – hardware, software and service delivery – was expected to grow to about ₹ 12,000-15,000 by 2026. The government says India has the potential to become a global drone hub by 2030.

The post Import of Drones Prohibited appeared first on IMR.

“These handheld anti-drone guns will be useful for patrolling teams in border areas who sometimes see drones flying but couldn’t do more as it is out of their firing range,” said a senior BSF officer.

“Anti-Drone Gun should be Hand Held, easily transportable and operable in day and night environment. The system should be easily deployable with ease and should be a lightweight UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) countermeasure solution designed for one hand or two hand operations,” he added.

The system should be able to cut off communication between the visually detected UAV and the remote controller by jamming data links to the UAV/RC.

In terms of operational capability, it should be capable of neutralizing the flying object (UAV) or group of UAVs (Swarm attack) from a distance (as specified or better) of at least 2,500 metres.

“The gun should be capable to neutralize the flying object by jamming its radio and GPS links and force landing the UAV at its place of operation within 10 seconds after detection,” the BSF document sent to the Home ministry reads.

This year around 60 drone sightings of unmanned aerial vehicles near Punjab were reported and many more remained unreported. The explosives and small arms were dropped using drones from the Pakistan side on Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab border.

The intelligence agencies have alerted security forces regarding drones capabilities of terror groups across the border and even in Naxal areas. The majority of drones are being used to drop weapons in the Punjab and Jammu sectors.

A senior BSF officer said that last year they have shot down a variety of drones. Some of the drones (hexacopter) can carry much load as the controller sits across the border and achieves the objective without crossing the LoC. The made in China drones are advanced in technology and their memory gets deleted remotely and they can never get anything out of it.

“Entire border can’t be covered under anti-drone devices but handheld anti-drone guns with the patrolling team could help to detect and bring down the drone,” said the BSF officer.

Another BSF officer added that these handheld anti-drone devices will be part of patrolling teams and will be much more effective than presently used immovable anti-drone measures.

The post BSF to Get Anti-Drone Guns to Neutralise Pakistani Drones appeared first on IMR.