The Indian Navy is looking to develop an indigenous anti-drone small-calibre round that can be fired from guns already installed across its fleet, avoiding the need for new weapon mounts, major modifications or expensive refit programs.

The requirement reflects a growing emphasis on cost-effective counter-drone capabilities as unmanned aerial threats become increasingly common in modern maritime warfare. Small drones and drone swarms can pose serious risks to warships, yet using expensive missiles against low-cost aerial targets is often uneconomical.

A key aspect of the Navy's approach is maintaining compatibility with existing naval gun systems. By ensuring that the new ammunition can be used with weapons already in service, the Navy aims to accelerate deployment while reducing procurement and integration costs.

The service also wants the ammunition's performance to be assessed independently of the radar or sensor systems used to detect and track targets. This would allow the effectiveness of the round itself to be measured more accurately, ensuring that its true interception capability is not masked by the performance of supporting detection equipment.

The initiative aligns with wider efforts to strengthen indigenous defence manufacturing and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers for specialised military technologies. An Indian-developed solution could also provide greater flexibility for future upgrades and production scaling.

The focus on a low-cost hard-kill option comes as armed forces worldwide seek affordable methods of defeating small unmanned aircraft. Recent conflicts have demonstrated that drones can be used for surveillance, targeting, electronic warfare and direct attack missions, making dedicated counter-drone systems an increasingly important requirement.

If successfully developed, the proposed ammunition could provide the Navy with an economical layer of close-range drone defence, enabling ships to engage emerging aerial threats quickly while preserving more expensive missile-based systems for higher-value targets.

Agencies