Kharga Corps validates effectiveness of counter-drone grid – The Tribune

Air Defence formations under the Kharga Corps of Western Command carried out a Combat Readiness Test Exercise (CRTE) to validate the effectiveness of the counter-unmanned aerial system (UAS) grid.

Various weapons systems, including surface-to-air missiles, self-propelled and static anti-aircraft guns, radars and surveillance systems and communication equipment were evaluated in a realistic battlefield environment that included live firing.

“The formation demonstrated exceptional professionalism and operational readiness while engaging hostile aerial targets, including a variety of drones with high precision during both day and night under simulated battle conditions,” the Western Command said on Friday.

The air defence exercise is part of a larger field exercise that Ambala-based Kharga Corps, the Army’s most potent strike formation, is conducting at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in north-western Rajasthan.

Drones assume centrestage

Drones and UAS have assumed the centrestage in the contemporary battlefield and such systems of different sizes and capability are being employed for attack, surveillance, electronic warfare, reconnaissance, logistics and medical evacuation.

This has been evident not only in recent conflicts in some parts of the world like the Russia-Ukraine war, but also during Operation Sindoor, the five-day intense military engagement between India and Pakistan in May 2025 in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed in April 2025.

After India carried out precision strikes on several terrorist camps inside Pakistan as retribution, Pakistan responded by launching numerous drones and missiles on Indian civilian and military sites, most of which were effectively neutralised by India’s integrated inter-service air defence network comprising missiles, guns, radars and anti-drone systems.

The Armed Forces have since been laying a great deal of emphasis on drone and counter-drone warfare, evolving and fine-tuning doctrines, defining new requirements and giving an impetus to indigenous development.