Hyderabad: Indrajaal Autonomous Defense Systems, a Hyderabad-based anti-drone tech startup, has secured orders worth ₹155 crore for its Indrajaal Ranger, a purpose-built anti-drone patrol vehicle, from Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) for homeland security. The vehicle will be deployed for border land patrolling and urban policing, marking an expansion of counter-drone security from military-style fixed installations to borders, VVIP routes and urban areas, Indrajaal said.The company said a ₹145 crore order has been awarded to the Indrajaal-Sigma Advanced Systems consortium and will support border-security deployments, while a separate order of about ₹10 crore will introduce the system for urban policing, VVIP protection and city security.The Ranger has been approved by the Anti-Rogue Drone Technology Committee (ARDTC), a technical evaluation body set up by MHA. The Ranger is designed to detect, track, identify and counter rogue drones while moving at high speeds. Unlike fixed counter-UAS systems, it is intended to provide mobile protection along vulnerable border stretches, public-event locations, airports, critical infrastructure and convoy routes.The Rangers, based on the Toyota Hilux platform, will be manufactured at Indrajaal’s facilities in Hyderabad.The platform, powered by Indrajaal’s proprietary AI-powered software SkyOS, combines sensors, artificial intelligence, sensor fusion, command-and-control tools and layered countermeasures.Its components include Retractor, which can take control of rogue drones for controlled recovery and forensic analysis; Lakshman Rekha, which creates a virtual protective boundary to prevent unauthorised drones from entering secured airspace; and Net Interceptor, which physically intercepts and captures hostile drones when electronic measures are inadequate.Indrajaal founder and CEO Kiran Raju Penumacha said drone threats now extend beyond battlefields to borders, airports, cities and public events, requiring continuous low-altitude airspace protection.“Ukraine demonstrated what drones can do in war. What we are now witnessing globally is that the drone threat extends well beyond the battlefield. Borders, airports, cities, public events, critical infrastructure and VVIP movements all require continuous protection of low-altitude airspace. Counter-UAS must therefore become part of a nation’s everyday security infrastructure. The Indrajaal Ranger was designed around this reality, to enable security forces to take autonomous counter-drone capability wherever the threat moves,” Kiran Raju said.Sigma CEO Sunil Kalidindi said the programme demonstrates India’s defence manufacturing capability and supports indigenous security technology under Atmanirbhar Bharat. The companies said Ranger had been validated through govt evaluations before selection for deployment.
