Indian Army raises Baaz drone battalion for Pakistan border

The Indian Army has announced the formation of the ‘Baaz’ battalion, a specialized unit dedicated to drone operations along the western border with Pakistan. Headquartered in Jalandhar, Punjab, under the command of the 11 Corps, this unit represents the first such dedicated drone battalion in a state facing Pakistan.

Part of a broader transformation following Operation Sindoor and lessons learned from standoffs along the Line of Actual Control with China, the Baaz battalion is designed to act as a centralized ‘brain’ for drone warfare. The unit will standardize training, manage high-density technical data from mixed fleets, and handle rapid software updates and replenishment cycles.

The battalion is expected to operate a diverse range of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance, logistics, and attack roles. This includes long-range platforms such as the MQ-9B from General Atomics, the Heron and Hermes from Israel, the locally developed Ghatak UAV from the DRDO, and various models from Indian manufacturers like ideaForge, SMPP, and NewSpace Research.