A. Karunakaran

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Group Captain A Karunakaran was commissioned in Indian Air Force (IAF) in November 94.He is an Aeronautical Engineer in Mechanical Branch and has served IAF under various capacities in Fleet and Aviation Management areas. He had completed Mechanical Engineering from Vellore Engineering College and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from IIT Madras. He was carrying out research studies on IAF Indigenisation project and Defence Aviation Technologies as part of his research fellowship at Manohar Parrikar IDSA, New Delhi.

Research Fellow
Email:- akarunakaran[dot]mpidsa[at]nic[dot]in
Phone:- +91 11 2671 7983

Publication

Maintenance Ecosystem of Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) in Military Aviation

India’s commercial drone industry is growing and the drone market is expected to become a multi-billion-dollar industry over the next decade. In this drone era, the smaller drone systems, that is, small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) are also gaining traction in Indian armed forces for use in Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) and as armed sUAS for kamikaze role.

Unmanned Aircraft System and Indian Industries

While India is establishing a strong aviation ecosystem by bringing together all stakeholders including the government, DPSUs, tri-services, academia and industry partners, it is believed that private Indian industries will be the crusaders for the government in defence production, particularly in the UAV vertical.

Swarm Drones and Indian Academia

Air power is one of the most important elements of a military campaign and therefore, all countries strive to achieve Air Supremacy. The world has witnessed the influence of Air Power in wars, including Air Superiority of manned aircraft, in the last century. However, this paradigm of Air Superiority only through manned aircraft, and noticeably Fighter aircraft, may be challenged in this century through Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Future wars may be fought with a combination of both manned and unmanned aircraft.