Army Chief Outlines India's Mega Drone Push: 5,000 per Command, 100 km Strike Range

India's Army chief said on 13^th January 2026 that Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations has been asked to rein in what the government views as recurring drone intrusions across the border. Speaking at the annual press conference, General Upendra Dwivedi said the issue had been raised with his Pakistani counterpart and was conveyed as intolerable.

Addressing the media, the Army chief also outlined India's push to significantly scale up its drone competencies in preparation for future conflicts. He said the Army has decided to manufacture as many drones as possible in-house, with every command either already producing or able to produce about 5,000 drones. These are not small platforms. India has already test-fired drones with a range of around 100 km and plans to spread this further.

General Dwivedi also referred to recent drone sightings in the Nowshera sector along the LOC in Jammu. He said 3 to 5 drones were spotted on the evening of 11th January 2026, with additional sightings over the following days. As he stated, about six drones were observed on January 10 and two to three on January 11 and 12.

The Army chief labelled these as small drones flying with lights switched on and at relatively low altitudes, appearing only intermittently. He said the assessment was that these will be defensive drones, perhaps deployed to test India's responses or probe for vulnerabilities that could be exploited to push terrorists across the border. Though he added that the outcome for the other side would have been clear, as the Indian Army is fully alert with no gaps or laxity along the frontier.

General Dwivedi confirmed that the issue was discussed in a DGMO-level conversation held earlier in the day, throughout which Pakistan was told clearly that such drone activity would not be tolerated and must be stopped immediately.

Source: MoneyControl