Indian military drones facing scrutiny over suspected Chinese components

New Delhi: The ministry of defence (MoD) is working on “appropriate methodology” to ensure that the local drone manufacturing for Indian military does not use Chinese components, India Today reported.

It is reported citing MoD officials that the move is aimed at carrying out ‘a comprehensive technical evaluation to protect the integrity of Indian defence manufacturing’.

The development comes just as both countries have taken steps to end border standoff in Ladakh by entering in a pact for military patrolling along the Line of Actual Control ( LAC).

The intelligence reports raised alarm about the suspected use of Chinese components in Indian military drones, giving rise to fears about security implications of this disturbing situation.

The Indian military recently invested a whopping Rs 3,000 crore to procure 2,500 military drones under its emergency powers with the government promoting local drone manufacturing through its initiatives like the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme along with reforming guidelines like the Drone Rules, 2021.

Given this favourable backdrop, India is likely turn into a $40 billion drone market (Rs 3.36 lakh crore) over the next decade with domestic drone manufacturing to touch $24 billion (around Rs 2 lakh crore) by 2030.

However, the suspected use of Chinese components in military drones put a damper on India’s aim to become a global drone manufacturing hub by reducing its reliance on foreign technology.

Earlier a report by India Today in 2023 pointed to the risk of snooping through hundreds of Chinese-origin CCTV cameras installed at Indian defence places, government offices and places like Delhi Metro.

It is reported that the Indian Railways’ plans to install artificial intelligence-powered CCTV cameras on trains faced fears about security breach after suspected Chinese-origin cameras were found installed at several railway stations.

Alongside, the intelligence agencies last month reported the use of Chinese electrical and other components in the drones that the armed forces purchased from domestic private manufacturers.

This subsequently led to the suspension of an order for 200 drones from the Chennai-based Dhaksha Unmanned Systems Private Limited after four domestic manufacturers were named as using Chinese components.

However, Dhaksha Unmanned Systems denied the charge claiming that components used in the drones complied with statutory requirements alongside pointing out that alternatives were sourced from the US and Taiwan.

Dhaksha Unmanned Systems called the allegations as ‘misinformation campaign’ to malign the company, thus preventing the delivery of the drones.