DRDO's SHIELD programme: Inside India's high-power microwave push against drone swarms

UPDATE - follow-up to DRDO's SHIELD programme: Inside India's high-power microwave push against drone swarms. India is ramping up its efforts to develop high-power microwave (HPM) technology to counter the growing threat of drones. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has opened the door for Indian industry to develop a specialized system to test the effects of intense microwave radiation on electronic equipment. The SHIELD programme, which stands for S-band High-Power Microwave Integrated Evaluation System for Lethality and Damage, aims to create a sophisticated evaluation platform to understand how electronic systems behave when exposed to high-power microwave energy. This testing infrastructure can inform the development of systems capable of disabling hostile drones and protecting Indian platforms from electromagnetic attacks. DRDO has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) under its Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme, inviting Indian industry to develop the SHIELD system. The objective is not to immediately produce a field-deployable weapon but to create a platform that can assess the effects of high-power microwave radiation on electronic systems. Such testing could cover a wide range of electronics, including communications equipment, sensors, control systems, and other components critical to drone operation. Modern drones rely on complex electronic systems, and disrupting these systems can prevent a drone from carrying out its mission. High-power microwave systems aim to interfere with or damage the target's electronics, offering a soft-kill capability. However, HPM effectiveness depends on factors such as energy delivery, distance, beam characteristics, target geometry, and the vulnerability of the target's electronic architecture. Industry experts say that SHIELD-type testing could become increasingly important as modern defence platforms become more dependent on electronic systems. Ankur Shah, Managing Director of Krishna Defence & Allied Industries Ltd (KDAIL), noted that such testing could help Indian defence manufacturers identify vulnerabilities earlier in the design and integration process and make their platforms more resilient against electromagnetic attacks. Earlier report (2026-09-10 09:42): India is stepping up its efforts to develop high-power microwave technology as a potential answer to the growing threat posed by drones. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has opened the door for Indian industry to develop a specialised system to test how intense microwave radiation affects electronic equipment. The programme is significant because it could provide the testing infrastructure needed to understand how electronic systems behave when exposed to high-power microwave energy. This information can feed into both sides of the military equation: developing systems capable of disabling hostile drones and protecting Indian platforms from similar electromagnetic attacks. The initiative comes as DRDO and Indian defence companies pursue a set of directed-energy and counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) technologies. The system, known as SHIELD, stands for S-band High-Power Microwave Integrated Evaluation System for Lethality and Damage. DRDO has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) under its Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme, inviting Indian industry to develop the system. The TDF programme is designed to support the development of defence technologies by Indian companies, including start-ups, MSMEs and other private-sector players. In SHIELD's case, the objective is not to immediately produce a field-deployable weapon but to create a sophisticated evaluation platform. At its core, SHIELD is intended to answer a crucial question: what happens to electronic systems when they are exposed to high levels of microwave energy? The system would allow researchers to expose equipment to controlled HPM radiation and assess whether the result is temporary disruption, degraded performance or permanent damage. Such testing could cover a wide range of electronics, including communications equipment, sensors, control systems and other components that could be critical to the functioning of an unmanned aircraft. Modern drones are essentially flying networks of electronics. Their flight depends on systems such as flight controllers, navigation equipment, communications links, sensors, power electronics and onboard computing. Disrupting one or more of these systems can prevent a drone from carrying out its mission even if the physical airframe remains intact. Instead of physically destroying a drone with a missile or projectile, a high-power microwave system attempts to interfere with or damage the target's electronics. The approach is generally classified as a soft-kill capability. For a military facing large numbers of relatively inexpensive drones, the ability to defeat a target without expending a conventional interceptor for every engagement could have significant operational and economic advantages. However, HPM effectiveness cannot simply be assumed. It depends on factors including the amount of energy delivered to the target, distance, beam characteristics, target geometry and, crucially, the vulnerability of the target's electronic architecture. SHIELD-type testing could become increasingly important as modern defence platforms become more dependent on electronic systems, sensors, communications and automated controls. According to Ankur Shah, Managing Director of Krishna Defence & Allied Industries Ltd (KDAIL), such testing could help Indian defence manufacturers identify vulnerabilities earlier in the design and integration process and make their platforms more resilient against electromagnetic attacks.