Indian Army plans multi-tier steel mesh shields to counter drone incursions at sensitive sites

TLDR

• The Indian Army issued a request for information on 25 September for multi-tier steel mesh shields to protect sensitive military sites from drone incursions.¹
• The design uses three layers of different steel mesh, each panel roughly 37 metres long and 20 metres wide, meant to progressively dissipate an incoming drone's energy before it reaches protected assets.¹
• Initial deployment is planned in the western sector, prioritising command centres and ammunition storage sites near the India-Pakistan border.¹
• India's Ministry of Defence recorded 863 drone intrusions in its 2025-26 annual report, 854 of them in Punjab and Rajasthan; 237 were shot down, 5 carried "war-like stores," 72 carried narcotics, and 161 had no payload.¹
• The mesh shields would supplement existing jammers, lasers, and anti-drone guns already in use, as the Army works from a list of around 30 identified UAS and loitering-munition types.¹

The Indian Army is planning to deploy multi-tier steel mesh shields at sensitive sites to counter a rising number of drone incursions along the border with Pakistan, after issuing a request for information on 25 September.¹ The design calls for three layers of different steel mesh, each panel about 37 metres long and 20 metres wide, arranged so an incoming drone is intercepted successively and its energy dissipated "before it reach[es] protected assets," according to the reporting.¹ The outer layer would carry non-reflective coatings and multi-spectral camouflage to reduce visual and thermal detection.¹

Initial deployment is planned in the western sector, focused on forward-area installations and high-value sites, particularly command centres and ammunition storage areas.¹ The push follows a sharp rise in drone activity documented in the Ministry of Defence's 2025-26 annual report: 863 drone intrusions recorded overall, 854 of them in Punjab and Rajasthan, of which 237 drones were shot down, 5 carried "war-like stores," 72 carried narcotics, and 161 had no payload.¹ The report describes the activity as signifying "greater attempts by the adversary to employ drones for various nefarious activities like reconnaissance and smuggling."¹

The mesh shields would supplement counter-drone tools already fielded, including jammers, lasers and anti-drone guns, plus mesh and net protections already used on bunkers, tanks and observation posts, some of which were shown at this year's Republic Day parade.¹ The Army has identified around 30 types of UAS and loitering munitions, with roughly 80 variants, across various threat roles, and has formed a core committee to oversee counter-UAS deployment decisions.¹

Why it matters: it is a low-tech, low-cost complement to India's jammers and lasers, aimed at the cheap, high-volume drone incursions that expensive kinetic or electronic countermeasures are not always worth using against.