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India's Ministry of Defence is finalizing a framework to secure the indigenous military drone ecosystem, targeting the illegal use of Chinese components in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Army Design Bureau drafted the framework following reports of Chinese software elements being integrated into domestic drones.

It was recently cleared by the Director General (Acquisition) and is awaiting final approval from Defence Secretary RK Singh before being sent to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The framework mandates over 30 tests by accredited labs to ensure compliance with security standards, modeled after OSWASP 4.0.

It will apply across the acquisition process and post-contract management for all tri-services. Testing will focus on software security to prevent unauthorized data access and hacking, following previous incidents during border tensions with China. Additionally, hardware sourcing will be scrutinized to prevent procurement from hostile nations.