India's next generation of swarm drones: Why DRDO wants 50 drones to fly as one?

Swarm drones have emerged as one of the most important elements of modern warfare because they allow militaries to overwhelm enemy air defences through numbers instead of relying on a single expensive platform. These drones, which operate in groups of dozens or even hundreds, can conduct a variety of missions, including reconnaissance, electronic warfare, precision strikes, and decoy missions.

Their relatively low cost, autonomous coordination, and ability to saturate enemy air defences have made swarm drones a key capability for the forces in today's battlefields, particularly in high-intensity conflicts where speed, mass, and survivability are critical. Realising the importance of swarm drone warfare, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the private industry to build a swarm of 50 drones with over 70 per cent indigenous content.

According to media reports, the RFP, issued under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) of DRDO, seeks swarm drones that are jam-proof, highly coordinated, and can fly within half a metre of each other, with the capability to correct positional mistakes within around 500 milliseconds.

The RFP stipulates that the swarm should comprise at least 49 “slave” drones arranged in a seven-by-seven formation, all controlled by a single “master” drone that coordinates the entire cluster based on commands received from a ground station. This enables a single operator to command and control the entire swarm.

Each of these drones should have a payload capacity ranging from 500 g to 2 kg, which could include cameras or electronic warfare equipment. Each drone should also be able to stay airborne for at least 30 minutes and be recharged in just 15 minutes.

The key technologies identified include high-precision navigation, swarm intelligence and control algorithms, flight control systems, AI, edge computing, as well as cybersecurity and electronic warfare protection, according to a report by The New Indian Express.

Even as the armed forces themselves are trying to develop and perfect loitering munitions and counter-drone systems, private firms are also being roped in to develop more advanced, cutting-edge technologies. The latest RFP by the DRDO is part of this initiative.

The DRDO will bear 90 per cent of the development cost, and the company selected will have 12 months to design and build a working prototype.