Beginning tomorrow, all three Indian defence forces—Army, Navy, and Air Force—will collaborate for the first time since Operation Sindoor in Exercise Cold Start, which focuses on drone and counter-drone warfare. This simulation will take place at the Babina and Mhow military bases in Central India, focusing on inter-service integration of unmanned aerial systems and countermeasures.
The exercise, organized by the Integrated Defence Staff, aims to improve operational capacity across the three armies for detecting, neutralizing, and deploying drones in complicated combat situations. Gen Anil Chauhan, the Chief of Defence Staff, will attend one of the four days, emphasizing the drill’s strategic importance.
Operation Sindoor represented a dramatic increase in drone warfare, with Indian troops deploying a combination of indigenous and foreign drones to launch accurate strikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan. Pakistani replies included Turkish and Chinese drones attacking Indian military and civilian targets, but these strikes were effectively thwarted by Indian counter-drone defenses.
The drone engagements in Operation Sindoor revealed both strengths and weaknesses in drone tactics and technologies, prompting the Indian defense establishment to adapt and improve integrated counter-drone capabilities. These lessons have led directly to Exercise Cold Start, which aims to train forces for varied aerial threats in future conflicts.
The practice will put the Army, Navy, and Air Force’s real-time coordination for drone surveillance, strikes, electronic warfare, and kinetic countermeasures to the test. It would also prioritize quick threat detection and neutralisation to protect territorial security.
India’s growing drone inventory and indigenous development have rendered unmanned systems vital to current warfare dominance. Exercise Cold Start symbolically combines these capabilities into a coherent defense posture, ensuring reaction to asymmetric threats.\
The practice will put the Army, Navy, and Air Force’s real-time coordination for drone surveillance, strikes, electronic warfare, and kinetic countermeasures to the test. It would also prioritize quick threat detection and neutralisation to protect territorial security.
India’s growing drone inventory and indigenous development have rendered unmanned systems vital to current warfare dominance. Exercise Cold Start symbolically combines these capabilities into a coherent defense posture, ensuring reaction to asymmetric threats.
The exercise underscores India’s resolve to enhancing multi-domain warfare capability, incorporating lessons from prior operations to preserve strategic and tactical superiority in upcoming drone conflict scenarios.
