NEW DELHI – For most of India’s military history, drones were something other countries had. Expensive, specialized, available only to advanced air forces, and rarely seen in the hands of ground soldiers. General Upendra Dwivedi, who retires as Chief of Army Staff on June 30, 2026, spent his tenure changing that — systematically, ambitiously and at a pace that surprised even those who watched it closely.
The result is why his peers now call him the “Drone General.” It is not a formal title. Nobody awarded it to him. It emerged organically from within the institution he led , shorthand for a transformation that is difficult to summarise any other way.
When General Dwivedi took charge, the Indian Army had a few hundred drones to its name. Today, that number is above 50,000, with projections suggesting it will double again within two to three years. Across the country, more than 25 Drone and Counter-Drone Hubs have been built at military stations , not pilot projects or experimental facilities, but permanent infrastructure designed for large-scale, sustained operations.
What changed was not only the quantity of drones but their place in the Army’s thinking. General Dwivedi articulated a simple but demanding principle: every soldier should be capable of operating with drones. Not just officers, not just specialists, every soldier. New units were built around that principle. Bhairav Battalions, Ashni Platoons and Divyastra Batteries were created to give drone capability a structural home at every level of the Army, from large formations down to small units operating in forward areas.
The transformation was tested in real conditions during Operation Sindoor, where drones, loitering munitions, electronic warfare and coordinated intelligence all worked together in a live operational setting. What the operation demonstrated was not simply that India had drones, but that India knew how to use them together with everything else.
Self-reliance was woven through the entire effort. Rather than buying systems from abroad, the Army under General Dwivedi invested in building them at home , through partnerships with DRDO, Indian companies, start-ups and small manufacturers. Today, a significant share of the Army’s equipment, including nearly all its special clothing and much of its ammunition, is made in India. The drones are increasingly too.
Along the country’s northern and western borders, the changes have been felt most directly. Surveillance networks were expanded, logistics improved, and the ability to respond rapidly to threats was strengthened. Eastern Ladakh — remote, high-altitude and strategically critical — became a testing ground for the new technologies and the new ways of using them.
General Dwivedi’s legacy is not confined to hardware. He also made a point of connecting the Army more closely to the people it serves. Outreach programs ran across border states. The NCC expanded by nearly 20 percent. A new internship program brought young civilians into contact with the institution. These were reminders that an army is only as strong as the society that stands behind it.
The Drone General retires. But in garrisons across India, from Ladakh to the Northeast, soldiers trained under his watch are flying the machines he made central to their profession.
Ashu Mann
Ashu Mann is an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies. He was awarded the Vice Chief of the Army Staff Commendation card on Army Day 2025. He is pursuing a PhD in Defence and Strategic Studies. His research focuses include India-China territorial dispute, great power rivalry, and Chinese foreign policy.
