India's army launches its first dedicated Baaz drone battalion on the Pakistan frontier

The Indian Army created its inaugural Baaz Battalion, a dedicated unmanned-aerial-system formation stationed in Jalandhar and reporting to the 11 Corps that secures sensitive stretches of the India-Pakistan border in northern Punjab. Named after the Hindi word for hawk, the unit will field larger platforms like the American MQ-9B and Israeli Heron and Hermes, delivering continuous monitoring and deep-penetration reconnaissance beyond the frontier.

This move expands a wider modernization effort that already places quadcopter-style Ashni platoons in infantry battalions and plans to equip artillery regiments with Divyastra batteries and loitering munitions. The armored corps is also trialling Shaurya squadrons for enhanced aerial scouting. Centralised command will handle flight operations, data exploitation, maintenance and software updates, while AI-based battlefield support systems prioritize information for commanders. Lessons from recent standoffs with China and Operation Sindoor against Pakistan have driven the emphasis on drone-enabled situational awareness.