An Indian Startup Wants to Build a Defence Dome Across Our Skies! In 2019, Kiran Raju Penumacha watched a drone attack on Saudi Arabia's Aramco oil facilities expose a frightening weakness in modern defence. Drones costing a fraction of traditional military equipment had helped disrupt one of the world's largest oil producers. For Kiran, who had spent years researching autonomous systems, the attack raised an uncomfortable question: Could India's critical infrastructure withstand something similar? His concerns deepened as drones began appearing along the Punjab border, carrying weapons and narcotics. Then, in 2021, drones struck the Jammu Air Force Station. The threat was getting closer to home. Kiran had studied at Carnegie Mellon University and spent years working on autonomous technologies. Drawing on that experience, he began building Indrajaal, a Hyderabad-based startup with an ambitious vision: an intelligent defence network capable of protecting entire regions. Its proposed coverage? Up to 4,000 square kilometres. At the centre sits SkyOS, an AI platform connecting radars, cameras and radio-frequency sensors to detect and assess suspicious drones. Depending on the threat, the system can deploy electronic jamming, interfere with navigation, attempt cyber takeover of compatible drones or activate physical interceptors. During Operation Sindoor in May 2025, Indrajaal reported deploying its technology at a strategic naval installation in western India. The company's ambitions have since translated into substantial government orders. In August 2026, Indrajaal and Sigma Advanced Systems announced approximately ₹155 crore in orders for Ranger, their mobile counter-drone vehicle, including ₹145 crore for border security and ₹10 crore for urban policing. Ranger can patrol while monitoring the skies, an important capability when hostile drones can cross borders at unpredictable locations. For India, with its extensive borders, coastlines, refineries and military installations, affordable counter-drone protection is becoming increasingly important. Kiran's journey began with a vulnerability exposed thousands of kilometres away. Today, his company is developing technology intended to prevent similar attacks on Indian soil. And that leaves us with a difficult question. As AI takes on greater responsibility for national defence, how much decision-making authority should we give to these machines?