Army develops first-person drones internally

FPV drones gained prominence during the war in Ukraine, where they demonstrated their ability to change the dynamics of the battlefield. File | Image source: Reuters

In a premier initiative, Indian troops have begun introducing first-person perspective (FPV) drones equipped with anti-tank payloads. The drone was developed, tested and verified in collaboration with the Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory (TBRL) in Chandigarh. Officials confirmed that the initial five batches of FPV drones, each costing Rs 1.4 lakh, have been attracted, followed by a planned 95 purchases.

FPV drones gained prominence during the war in Ukraine, where they demonstrated their ability to change battlefield dynamics by effectively offsetting large and expensive military assets such as tanks.

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The FPV drone was developed by Major Cephas Chetan and the TBRL team led by Dr. Raghvendra and launched an initiative in August 2024.

An official said the project represents an important milestone in the tactical drone war, marking the internal development, testing and verification of an internally developed, tested and verified FPV drone armed with impact-based Kamikaze-Role anti-tank ammunition – the first of the Indian army.

Officials further added that the FPV drones were fully assembled in the rising drone combat school, which had built more than 100 drones in the formation as of March 2025.