The Beam That Blinds the Drone

As cheap drones reshape the battlefield, India’s T-SHUL BEAM points to a future in which electronic warfare may matter as much as firepower The drone has definitively become the weapon of choice for the modern battlefield. Cheap, expendable and increasingly autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicles can now threaten troops, armour, airfields and critical infrastructure without requiring the attacker to risk a pilot. Their proliferation has created a corresponding demand for counter-drone systems...

min read

As cheap drones reshape the battlefield, India’s T-SHUL BEAM points to a future in which electronic warfare may matter as much as firepower The drone has definitively become the weapon of choice for the modern battlefield. Cheap, expendable and increasingly autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicles can now threaten troops, armour, airfields and critical infrastructure without requiring the attacker to risk a pilot. Their proliferation has created a corresponding demand for counter-drone systems that can respond quickly and at a cost proportionate to the threat. This is where beam-based anti-drone technology enters the picture. Broadly, such systems fall into two categories. Hard-kill systems use concentrated laser energy to physically damage or destroy a drone. Soft-kill systems, by contrast, use radio-frequency or electromagnetic energy to disrupt the electronic links that allow a drone to communicate, navigate and transmit information. Sophisticated Weaponry Hard-kill laser systems focus an intense beam of light on a vulnerable part of an incoming UAV - its carbon-fibre structure, control surfaces, battery or other critical components. The concentrated energy rapidly heats the target, potentially burning through its structure or disabling optical sensors and bringing the aircraft down. India’s DRDO has demonstrated a 30kW laser system, while Israel’s Rafael has developed the Lite Beam system. Soft-kill systems take a different route. Rather than physically destroying the aircraft, they interfere with the electronic architecture that keeps it airborne. Directional radio-frequency energy can disrupt command-and-control links, video feeds, telemetry and satellite-navigation signals such as GPS or other GNSS services. Depending on the drone and the nature of the disruption, the aircraft may be forced to land, return to its launch point or lose control. It is in this category that the T-SHUL BEAM system developed by Indian defence company IG Defence deserves attention. T-SHUL BEAM is a man-portable, directional counter-drone system designed for tactical deployment. Its multi-band radio-frequency architecture is intended to target several of the links on which unmanned aerial systems depend, including command-and-control, telemetry, video transmission and GNSS navigation. Its directional configuration allows an operator to concentrate electronic countermeasures on a particular aerial target rather than indiscriminately radiating energy across a large area. That matters on a battlefield where the warning time against a small UAV or first-person-view drone may be measured in seconds. The appeal of such a system is therefore not simply that it can counter a drone. It is that it can potentially bring counter-drone capability closer to the soldier and to the tactical edge. Large counter-UAS installations have their place, particularly around fixed and high-value assets. But forward units require systems that can move with them, be deployed rapidly and operate against small, low-cost unmanned platforms without imposing the logistical burden associated with conventional weapons. The T-SHUL BEAM’s significance also lies in its proposed integration with an artificial-intelligence-enabled battle-management architecture. IG Drones, the original equipment manufacturer, has stated that T-SHUL BEAM has been integrated with GRID, its indigenous AI-powered platform. The GRID architecture is intended to bring sensors, intelligence systems, unmanned platforms and command elements into a common operational framework. The attraction of such integration is obvious. Countering drones is increasingly less about a single weapon and more about the speed of the kill chain: detecting a threat, identifying it, deciding what response is appropriate and directing that response before the target disappears. An AI-enabled command architecture can potentially improve situational awareness, facilitate real-time threat detection and coordinate different systems operating simultaneously. This is particularly relevant as drone warfare evolves from isolated attacks towards increasingly complex and potentially swarming operations. A battlefield crowded with drones cannot be managed effectively if every sensor and weapon operates as a separate island. The advantage will increasingly belong to forces capable of turning disparate streams of information into a coherent picture and responding at machine speed. The T-SHUL BEAM’s reported demonstration at Pokhran represents another step in India’s attempt to build a domestic ecosystem spanning drones, counter-drones, artificial intelligence and electronic warfare. Counter-drone warfare is likely to be a recurring requirement rather than a niche capability. Importing every component of such an ecosystem would leave India vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions, technology restrictions and foreign-exchange pressures. Indigenous development, even when undertaken by relatively small private-sector companies, can broaden the country’s technological base and give the armed forces greater freedom to adapt systems to their operational requirements. Economics of the Contest Yet the real measure of any counter-drone system will ultimately be operational rather than promotional. Electronic warfare is inherently a contest between countermeasure and counter-countermeasure. Drone designers can alter frequencies, communications protocols, navigation methods and levels of autonomy. A system that is effective against one generation of drones may require modification against the next. The battlefield, in other words, will remain a technological arms race. The economics of the contest nevertheless favour directed-energy and electronic-warfare solutions. A conventional interceptor expends a missile or projectile against each target. A beam-based system can, subject to its power supply, engagement envelope and other operational constraints, engage targets without expending conventional ammunition. The marginal cost of an interception can consequently be dramatically lower. The beam also travels at effectively the speed of light, removing the flight time associated with kinetic interceptors. In densely populated areas or around sensitive infrastructure, bringing down a drone with a projectile can create its own hazards. Electronic disruption, when properly controlled, offers the possibility of neutralising the threat without sending an interceptor crashing back to earth. These advantages should not obscure the limitations. Soft-kill systems depend on the vulnerabilities of the target’s electronic architecture and may be less effective against increasingly autonomous drones that require fewer external communications. Weather, range, power availability, frequency management and the sophistication of an adversary's electronic countermeasures can all affect performance. No single technology is likely to provide a complete answer. The future of counter-drone warfare will therefore belong not to the beam alone but to layered defence combining. The emergence of systems such as T-SHUL BEAM suggests that India is beginning to build the technological pieces of that architecture at home. (The writer is a retired naval aviation officer and a defence and geopolitical analyst. Views personal.)

Metro 5 corridor to be MMR’s largest

Minal Sancheti

May 28

3 min read

Mumbai: Mumbai is to get the Mumbai Metro Region’s largest metro corridor, Metro Line 5, at 34.21 km, following the approval of its extended phases. At the same time, Phase 1 of the project is progressing towards the CMRS inspection stage. This can be seen as a major boost to regional connectivity across the MMR.

Extension of Line 5, which is Metro Line 5A, will increase connectivity across Thane, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Ulhasnagar and surrounding growth centres. Earlier, Metro Line 5 was 22.38 km long, and with the addition of the 11.83 km long Metro Line 5A, the total corridor length will become 34.21 km. The estimated cost of the Metro Line 5 corridor is Rs 18,130 crore.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “Metro Line 5 is a critical intervention for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, especially for Bhiwandi and the Kalyan–Dombivli belt, which are among the most important economic centres of the region. Bhiwandi, home to one of Asia’s largest textile and warehousing hubs, and the Kalyan–Dombivli region with a population of over 35 lakh, require fast, high-capacity connectivity to unlock their full potential. This expanded corridor will seamlessly connect these growth centres with suburban rail and key highways, enabling faster, safer and more efficient mobility for lakhs of citizens. I am confident that Phase 1 will be opened for the public by the end of this year.”

Deputy Chief Minister & Chairman, MMRDA, Eknath Shinde, said, “By integrating with suburban rail and major highways, Metro Line 5 will serve lakhs of workers, traders and citizens, and act as a key enabler of regional economic growth.”

Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee, Metropolitan Commissioner, said, “Metro Line 5 Phase 1 has reached an advanced stage of execution, with station infrastructure steadily taking shape. We are now preparing for the CMRS inspection, which is a critical milestone towards commissioning. Once operational, the corridor will play a key role in advancing the ‘Mumbai in Minutes’ vision by significantly reducing travel time across the region.”

AC locals saw 1.5 crore passengers in five months: CR

AC Local services by the Central Railway saw an increase in the number of passengers travelling. In five months, from January 26 to May 20, around 1.5 crore passengers travelled in the AC locals. The average comes down to 1.30 Lakh passengers per day. This was an increase when compared to the same time period in 2025.

This is because the Central Railways increased the number of AC locals in 2026 more than it had last year in 2025. Last year, the number of Local AC trains operated was 6,834. The number increased to 8,991, causing an increase of 31 per cent.

As a result of the increase in services, daily average passengers grew from 87,596 in 2025 to 1,30,075 in 2026, a jump of 48.5 per cent. The passengers per service also improved from 1,474 in 2025 to 1,664 in 2026, indicating that trains are running fuller even with more services on track.

Overall occupancy for 2026, as per AC local figures for the period, stood at an average of 1664 passengers per service, higher than the average of 1474 passengers per service in 2025, reflecting a 12.9 per cent increase in average passengers carried per service.

The number of the total passengers carried during the period rose to 1.5 crore in 2026 from 1 crore in 2025, a 50 per cent growth. Due to this reason, the daily average revenue correspondingly increased to Rs 56.00 lakh in 2026 from Rs 38.50 lakh in 2025, while total revenue for the period touched Rs 64.40 crore against Rs 44.27 crore last year.

AC local services on Central Railway increased from 66 to 80 with services running on the CSMT-Kalyan, Badlapur and Titwala main line in May 2025. With the introduction of AC local services on the CSMT-Panvel section with effect from January 2026, AC local services totalled 94. Further enhancement by an additional 14 services with effect from May 2026 has taken the total AC local services on Central Railway to 108.

Dr. Swapnil Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway said, “The sustained occupancy across all months of 2026, peaking in March and May, shows the increasing demand for AC locals. The introduction of additional services and expansion to new sections has been well received by commuters seeking safe, fast, and comfortable travel.”