Pune: Low-cost drones and loitering munitions, also known as unmanned aerial weapons, have become strategic force multipliers, as witnessed in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, said Southern Army Commander Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth on Friday.
He was speaking at a seminar on “Air Defence Operations – Contemporary Conflicts, Lessons Learnt and Capability Development of Army Air Defence,” organised by Southern Command with the Centre for Land and Warfare Studies, a Delhi-based think tank.
Lt Gen Seth said that lessons from Ukraine extend beyond just traditional air defence. The conflict demonstrated how low-cost drones and loitering munitions have become strategic force multipliers. Russia used Iranian Shahed drones to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure, while Ukraine successfully deployed Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones to destroy Russian armour columns.
“A remarkable facet that came into force was the asymmetric cost equation — a $500 drone could destroy a $10 million tank, making drone warfare a highly cost-effective tool of attrition. A cost ratio of 20,000:1. This reinforces the necessity for robust counter-drone systems, integrating electronic warfare, kinetic interceptors, and directed energy weapons to neutralise such systems before they threaten critical assets,” he added.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has become a textbook case in modern air defence warfare. At the onset of the conflict, many believed that Russia’s overwhelming air power would grant it a swift victory, the commander said.
“However, Ukraine’s layered and adaptive air defence network, backed by NATO intelligence and western surface-to-air missile systems, restricted Russian air dominance. The Ukrainian military used man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) supplemented with advanced western systems to deny airspace even against a technologically superior adversary. This resilience forced Russia to resort to long-range missile strikes instead of sustained air superiority – an important lesson for any military that seeks to defend its airspace against a numerically superior enemy,” he said.
The commander said that air threats have changed exponentially in the last two decades.
“From conventional airstrikes by manned aircraft, we entered an era where unmanned aerial systems, precision-guided munitions, loitering drones, and hypersonic missiles altered the very fabric of warfare. The wars of today and tomorrow will be shaped not just by air superiority but by air denial, ensuring that no adversary can exploit the skies against us,” Lt Gen Seth added.
The collaborative efforts are essential, the commander said, “Future warfare will demand a fully integrated air defence architecture, where Army, Air Force, and Naval assets operate in real-time coordination,” he said.
The Indian Air Force’s IACCS (Integrated Air Command and Control System) is already a step in the right direction, providing seamless connectivity across radars and missile systems. The integration with Akashteer is already underway, he said.
Lt Gen Sumer Ivan D’Chunha, the director general of AAD, senior military officers, industry representatives, and armed forces veterans also attended the event.
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