'We knew they'd saturate us': Top general says army held drone drills in April to foil Pakistan's swarm tactic

In a striking revelation, Lt. Gen. Sumer Ivan D'Cunha has confirmed that the Indian Army conducted a simulation exercise in late April anticipating a drone saturation strike from Pakistan — days before the latter's attempted drone and missile assault on Indian military targets during Operation Sindoor.

In a podcast with ANI's Smita Prakash, Lt Gen D’Cunha said, “The Nagorno Karabakh clash (Azerbaijan and Armenia), Russian-Ukraine clash, and even to some extent the current Israeli conflict taught us about the huge capability that drones have. We realised that Pakistan by virtue of its backend support from Turkey and maybe our northern adversary as well had a plethora of drones.”

Highlighting Pakistan's likely strategy, he added, “We also knew that in order to take on an effective air defense integrated system that we have like the Army and the Air Force are integrated in this case, he (Pakistan) would have to saturate us. So if you see his concept of employment, he would first send in low-altitude cheaper drones in large numbers to saturate your radars and they would also force you to open up your radars.”

Lt Gen D’Cunha revealed that Indian defence forces anticipated this tactic and adapted their radar usage accordingly. “I think it's very important that the Army looked at not emitting so that we didn't give out our positions. Because the moment you gave out your emitter position his next line of drones would come to hit the radar.”

Explaining the tactical response, he said, “You switch it on at the appropriate time. So you switch it on when you realise the target is within your gun range. You switch on the radar intermittently, slew your guns and engage the target. But if you continuously emit, that's what the drone is wanting you to do.”

In a crucial preparatory move, he said, “About maybe on the 26th, 27th and 28th April we did a simulation exercise at the behest of our Army Chief in the border areas where we simulated drone attacks on the weapon system.”

Asked if the April 26–28 exercise simulated a Pakistani drone attack, he replied, “Yeah, it was not from the border, but it was internal on the border. But we actually wanted our gunners and our operators to actually hone their skills and see how do you detect.”

Detailing the drill, he said, “We started off at 5:30 in the morning of maybe 26 for the first day. So we started at 5:30 in the morning where we had multiple drones coming in to train our people... because if you have a saturation raid... how do you react and how do you not switch on your radar till as late as possible.”

The Army also tested its communication protocols across ranks. “How does this information go laterally to people? How does the Army air defence once it gets this information proliferate this information to the infantry man who's there or to the artillery man who's there... so that everybody realises there is a drone... and if he has a capability... he can engage it.”

These statements come against the backdrop of Pakistan’s failed drone and missile offensive on Indian military targets across Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and J&K on the night of May 7–8. India's Integrated Counter-UAS Grid and air defence systems — featuring Pechora, OSA-AK, LLAD guns, and indigenous Akash missiles—successfully neutralised the threats.

Recovered debris included Turkish-origin UAVs, PL-15 missiles of Chinese origin, long-range rockets, and quadcopters, underscoring Pakistan's external dependencies and India’s robust defence preparedness.