by Vijay Kumar Dhar
Traditionally estimated to be an important Indian advantage, strategic depth now faces a challenge as Ukraine's leading drone and missile manufacturer, Fire Point, is offering Pakistan its technologies and unique combat experience.
A potential drone deal could introduce an additional layer of complexity to India's security situation, as well as that of the entire South Asian region.
What Is Fire Point?
Fire Point has emerged as one of Ukraine's leading producers of long-range unmanned systems. According to Ukrainian reports, the FP-1 has become one of the country's primary long-range strike assets, capable of striking targets 2600 kilometres away from the front line.
The company's FP-2 is a shorter-range system designed for strikes at distances of up to 200 kilometres. The war in Ukraine has demonstrated that it is not just threatening numbers in press releases, but also real combat capabilities.
For instance, an upgraded FP-1 flew approximately 2500 kilometres from Ukrainian territory to attack a primary crude processing unit belonging to Gazprom at Russia's largest refinery in Siberia. Platform units have been documented manoeuvring in the skies near Moscow and targeting local energy and logistics infrastructure.
As Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, Ukraine has “completely eliminated the very idea of Russia having a strategic rear”. Now, Fire Point is addressing Pakistan with a similar message: “Strategic depth is no longer an advantage”, clearly referring to India.
More Than A Single Purchase
India's main concern would not necessarily be the immediate arrival of a particular Fire Point platform. While the war with Russia is ongoing, Ukraine is unlikely to supply Pakistan with drones. New Delhi should be more concerned about the potential establishment of a technology pipeline than a weapons purchase.
In May 2026, Pakistan publicly declared the expansion of its domestic drone capabilities to be a “national priority”. The defence production ministry invited private-sector firms to collaborate with military research institutes.
As a result, Woot-Tech tested a rocket-assisted take-off motor for loitering munitions, enabling them to be launched without the need for runways.
Meanwhile, Alsons Group unveiled indigenously designed piston engines for UAVs at the Paris exhibition.
Islamabad is expanding its military drone capabilities and now intends to acquire expertise from a defence industry that has been compelled by war to rapidly develop innovations in areas such as long-range strikes, navigation, electronic warfare, resilience and mass production, in collaboration with private commercial firms.
The Drone Axis
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed on August 7, 2026 by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey adds another layer. This pact strengthens overall military cooperation among the three Sunni-majority countries and commits each to regard an armed attack on any one as an attack on all.
Crucially, all three already have significant interests in unmanned technologies and aim to export deadly Ukrainian experience.
Cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey began long before the war with Russia. The two countries actively share technical and manufacturing links. For example, the new jet-powered fighter drone designed by Baykar, the Kızılelma, is set to use Ukrainian AI-25TLT and AI-322F engines.
In March 2026, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine signed a "drone deal" at a state level, granting access to drone defence expertise and technology. Pakistan is now heading in the same direction.
In this context, Islamabad will be able to do more than just purchase drones or import know-how from Ukraine. It could become a system funded by Saudi money, with Turkey providing the technology and Pakistan adapting it for use in the real world through cheap, decentralised production and operational capabilities.
The whole structure will be fuelled by Ukrainian combat-proven technologies, tactics, and experience. This system would be difficult to deter using only traditional air defence systems.
Implications For India And Global Security
All of this points to a broader strategic reality. The central lesson is clear: the next phase of military competition between India and Pakistan may be less influenced by the number of fighter aircraft each side possesses than by the ability to produce, deploy and defend against large numbers of increasingly capable autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons.
India now has a strong interest in monitoring not only whether Pakistan purchases Fire Point drones, but also whether cooperation expands into local production, training or technology transfer.
Traditional concepts of strategic depth are becoming increasingly vulnerable to long-range unmanned warfare. For India, this means that its air defences cannot be based primarily on high-end systems such as the S-400 or other limited, high-value assets.
A more resilient architecture would combine long- and medium-range systems, such as the S-400, Akash and QRSAM, with mobile short-range air defence systems, electronic warfare systems, passive sensors and AI-assisted detection systems, as well as inexpensive drone interceptors.
At the same time, the response cannot be purely military. As all recent conflicts, including Operation Sindoor, have shown, the country should be granted international support on the global stage. New Delhi should expand its global diplomatic influence to defend its stance while its rivalries develop its political alliances.
For instance, greater local engagement with Afghanistan could increase the pressure on Pakistan along its western border, thereby making it more difficult for Islamabad to concentrate its resources against India.
The implications extend well beyond South Asia and the India–Pakistan rivalry. As the ongoing conflicts in the Gulf and the war in Ukraine have shown, the political domain remains crucial. It becomes even clearer when we see that countries around the globe are increasingly becoming random victims of provocative drone strikes, and combat experience is becoming a valuable good to trade.
Vijay Kumar Dhar is a defence analyst, whose expertise explores global power shifts, strategy, diplomacy transitions, and the geopolitics of systemic risk
