Modern carbines, drone platoons: What the Indian Army is buying to boost its capabilities

The army has completed the raising of 380 new specialist drone platoons called Ashni.

The Central government has signed a ₹2,770-crore deal with two private firms to equip soldiers with 4.25 lakh modern close-quarter battle carbines.

An Indian Army Soldier operates a robotic mule at the Line of Control, at Akhnoor in Jammu. (ANI)

The move would replace the existing, decades-old submachine guns, which are based on a 1940s design, as reported by HT.

Director general infantry Lieutenant General Ajay Kumar said contract has been awarded to Bharat Forge and Adani Group’s PLR Systems – the lowest and the second-lowest bidders – in the ratio of 60:40. The deliveries will begin in a year.

Here's what the army is doing to modernise the infantry:

• The army has completed the raising of 380 new specialist drone platoons called Ashni.
• It is also on course to deploy 25 Bhairav light commando battalions over the next six months.
• The purchase of the US-made Javelin anti-tank weapon is also underway through the emergency procurement route, according to Kumar. The purchase includes 12 launchers and 104 missiles.
• The army is buying a raft of new systems for its Ashni drone platoons, consisting of 20-25 soldiers in each of its 380 infantry battalions.
• “Trials of different types of drones are on. These platoons will be equipped drones that can be used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and loitering munitions or kamikaze drones,” Kumar said at a media briefing ahead of Infantry Day or Shaurya Diwas on October 27.
• HT has also learnt that the army is buying six types of loitering munitions and four types of drones for the ISR role. Drones were used extensively in these roles during Operation Sindoor, the four-day military confrontation between India and Pakistan in May after the Pahalgam terror attack.
• “The modernisation of infantry covers areas including lethality, mobility, communication, battlefield transparency, situational awareness, survivability, training and restructuring,” Kumar said.