Counter-Drone Moves from Soft-Kill Inventory to Directed-Energy Depth
- MoD expected to approve DRDO IDDS Mark-II; Army and IAF reported poised to order about 16 advanced indigenous systems.
- Mark-II is associated with a ~10 kW laser class and neutralisation ranges cited around 2 km, versus ~1 km for the prior generation.
- Update (24 Sep 2026): DRDO is moving a 30 kW-class laser DEW toward production and seeking an industry manufacturing partner, with a cited counter-drone range around 5 km - the production step above the ~10 kW IDDS Mark-II class.
- The industrial question shifts from detection alone to production-ready directed-energy weapons - and now to who manufactures them and how indigenous the laser chain is.
- Strongest next evidence: formal AoN/contract, unit quantities by service, the named production partner, and user acceptance of laser effectors in theatre conditions.
- MoD expected to approve DRDO IDDS Mark-II; Army and IAF reported poised to order about 16 advanced indigenous systems.
- Mark-II is associated with a ~10 kW laser class and neutralisation ranges cited around 2 km, versus ~1 km for the prior generation.
- Update (24 Sep 2026): DRDO is moving a 30 kW-class laser DEW toward production and seeking an industry manufacturing partner, with a cited counter-drone range around 5 km - the production step above the ~10 kW IDDS Mark-II class.
- The industrial question shifts from detection alone to production-ready directed-energy weapons - and now to who manufactures them and how indigenous the laser chain is.
- Strongest next evidence: formal AoN/contract, unit quantities by service, the named production partner, and user acceptance of laser effectors in theatre conditions.
- RNA Media (12 Sep 2026): https://www.rnamedia.in/defence/india-set-to-approve-next-gen-drdo-laser-systems-as-army-iaf-plan-major-drone-defence-push/10669
- idrw.org (24 Sep 2026): https://idrw.org/drdo-moves-ahead-with-30kw-class-laser-weapon/
- Indian Masterminds (24 Sep 2026): https://indianmasterminds.com/news/defence/drdo-30kw-directed-energy-weapon-mass-production-partner-235699/
The development
Soft-kill jamming and kinetic interceptors have dominated India's visible counter-drone fielding. The next industrial layer is directed energy: sensors, beam control, power, thermal management and tactics that let a defender defeat cheap aerial threats at a low marginal cost per shot. IDDS Mark-II is the programme name now attached to that step-up.
Why it matters
Mass drone and loitering-munition attacks compress reaction time and exhaust magazine depth. A fielded laser layer does not replace radar, RF and guns; it changes the cost curve for repeated engagements. The issue is not a single lab demo - it is whether India can produce, power, certify and sustain directed-energy effectors across Army and Air Force sites.
The Techadyant view
Treat Mark-II approval and order intent as a capability-path signal, not as nationwide coverage. Range, weather limits, power architecture and rules of engagement will determine operational value. The things to track are production partners, indigenous content in the laser chain, and whether directed energy appears in the same deployment maps as the soft-kill systems already fielded.
Update: 30 kW-class DEW moves toward production (September 2026)
On 24 September 2026, reporting indicated DRDO is advancing a 30 kW-class laser directed-energy weapon toward production and is seeking an industry partner to manufacture it, with the system described as able to neutralise drones and drone swarms at ranges of around 5 km. This is the higher-power counterpart to the roughly 10 kW IDDS Mark-II class above: it moves the directed-energy question from approval-and-order intent toward an actual production-and-industrialisation step. That makes the choice of production partner and the indigenous content of the laser chain - beam director, power and thermal management, and optics - the next thing to watch, rather than the approval language alone.
What to watch
Formal MoD approval language and Acceptance of Necessity / contract notices; the split of systems between Army and IAF and intended site classes (bases, airfields, critical infrastructure); the production agency and private-industry role in IDDS Mark-II and in the 30 kW-class system; user trials under realistic clutter, weather and swarm density; and parallel CHESS / long-range DEW milestones versus tactical IDDS fielding.
Track the systems we watch
Signals, reports and briefings on India’s industrial transformation.