TV
In a major push towards defence-tech synergy, the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela, in collaboration with the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), Ministry of Defence, successfully concluded a five-day national bootcamp on ‘Advances in Drone Swarm and Applications.’
The event, held from July 21 to 25, 2025, at MCTE, Mhow, trained Indian Army officers and defence professionals in emerging drone swarm technologies.
The boot camp was inaugurated by Lieutenant General Vivek Dogra, SM, Commandant, MCTE, and concluded in the presence of Major General Gautam Mahajan, SM, Dean and Chief Instructor.
Organised by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Rourkela, the programme was led by Prof. P.S. Balaji along with Dr. Chikesh Ranjan and Mr. Subhasish Bhoi. Prof. J Srinivas served as the principal investigator, with support from Aerovidya Ventures representatives Mr. Subodh K. Dash and Mr. Spoorti G Hannikeri.
Funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under its capacity-building initiative for unmanned aircraft systems (Aeromechanics theme), the workshop also saw active participation from military personnel, drone technologists, academicians, and research leaders across the country.
The intensive sessions covered swarm intelligence, UAV dynamics, inter-drone coordination, cybersecurity, vision-based navigation, and live simulations of multi-agent mission planning, focusing on real-world deployment of drone swarm technology.
The bootcamp concluded with impressive demonstrations of AI-powered UAVs and simulated swarm missions, reinforcing India’s strides towards Atmanirbhar Bharat and defence readiness through homegrown innovation.
