[ad_1]
A comprehensive framework to secure India’s indigenous military drone ecosystem from security compromising foreign intrusions — especially Chinese — is expected to be finalised in the upcoming meetings of the Defence Procurement Board (DPB) and Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC). This will redefine the procurement process of UAVs for tri-services.
The draft framework, under preparation for nearly a year, has been developed by the Army Design Bureau (ADB) in consultation with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the armed forces, industry stakeholders, and security experts. It aims to create a robust security architecture that all domestic drone manufacturers must comply with, particularly in terms of hardware and software integrity.
According to defence establishment sources, the framework seeks to address vulnerabilities caused by the illegal or unmonitored use of Chinese-origin components in India’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), even when marketed as “indigenous.”
The final draft is now in its last two stages of approval and is expected to receive clearance from the Defence Procurement Board (DPB), headed by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, and the DAC—chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh — in its next meetings. It should become a policy document in the next one or two months, sources in the defence establishment told businessline.
Once cleared, the policy will be binding across the tri-services—Army, Navy, and Air Force—and only vendors conforming to the framework’s stringent security and certification requirements will be eligible to participate in future UAV procurement processes.
However, the government will have to come up with a policy for the whole of the nation to secure drones deployed by central armed police forces like BSF, CRPF and ITBP and used by public and government departments especially for agriculture purposes, believe sources.
Red flags over Chinese components
The military framework initiative comes in the wake of growing national security concerns, especially following businessline’s investigative series (beginning August 27, 2024), which exposed the use of Chinese components in Indian-made drones.
Responding to the revelations, ADB’s Additional Director General Major General GS Mann on September 4, last year, had acknowledged the issue and confirmed that a method was being developed to detect and eliminate Chinese parts from the supply chain.
“The challenge is that China often routes critical components through third countries, making origin traceability extremely difficult—even for manufacturers,” sources stated.
In June, the PMO convened a high-level meeting, attended by the Army Vice Chief, industry players, and defence officials, to deliberate on the draft’s contours, given that supply chain traceability has emerged as a key concern world over.
The upcoming policy will apply from the very first stages of the acquisition process—Request for Information (RFI) followed by Request for Proposal (RFP)—and will remain in force through post-contract management.
Sources revealed that the framework lays out 30 specific hardware and software tests to ensure that UAVs are free from embedded malicious elements. These tests were formulated after extensive inter-agency and industry consultations.
To ensure quality and root out vulnerabilities, certifications will be conducted by NABL-accredited labs such as ITC India, STC Lab, and URS Labs, which already offer drone testing services in compliance with DGCA requirements.
Some of the key vulnerabilities already identified by the Army in domestically assembled drones include: lack of secure update mechanisms, susceptibility to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, unsecured ad-hoc networks, remote file transfer vulnerabilities and risk of malware through software patches.
To mitigate these threats, drones will be tested for secure code signing, validation before deployment, and encrypted software updates. Manufacturers will also be required to submit detailed documentation authenticating every critical component used and adhere to ISO/IEC standards for software quality, security, and development processes.
Hijacking risks
The framework also includes advanced cryptographic checks, secure memory protection, and mechanisms for safeguarding data in storage and during transmission. These measures aim to prevent unauthorised access, remote control, or hijacking of drones—risks that have already been encountered in the past, with some Indian-made UAVs reportedly hijacked by Chinese and Pakistani operators due to weak security protocols.
Of the 30 tests, the framework also calls for addressing vulnerabilities linked to GPS spoofing and jamming, flight controllers, and supply chain risk identification, and assessment.
Once adopted, the secure drone framework is expected to serve as the baseline security standard for a wide range of indigenous defence systems going forward, sources said.
Published on September 5, 2025
[ad_2]
Source link
