Rather than matching adversaries, India should aim to outpace them by inducting higher-capability drones at every echelon of the armed forces. This shift in mindset — from seeking parity to striving for superiority —must reflect in deployment planning, budgeting, and operational doctrine.1 / 3 Move from parity to superiority in drone deployment To reduce back-end logistics and training burdens and increase operational flexibility, UAVs should support modular payloads and perform a variety of missions with minimal pilot intervention.2 / 3 Promote modular, multi-role UAVs with full mission autonomy & field upgradability The armed forces should annually publish a list of subsystems and technologies that are critical to future operations.3 / 3 Publish and prioritise a list of critical defence technologies