Domestic drone and anti-drone system manufacturers saw their stocks rise 12% on Friday, with hopes that demand for such sophisticated defense systems will increase amid escalating India-Pakistan tensions. To recall, Pakistan's military accused India the day before of launching drone strikes on multiple targets, including Karachi and Lahore, with advanced Israeli-made loitering munitions. The drones in question were HAROP and Heron Mark II.

On Friday, Ideaforge Technology led the gainers, rising 15.28% to Rs 445 on BSE. Ideaforge Technology, a vertically integrated company, designs, develops, and manufactures indigenous UAVs. This stock rose despite the company reporting a net loss of Rs 25.71 crore for the March quarter.  

Zen Technologies, which provides anti-drone systems, reached its 5% upper circuit limit at Rs 1,406.35. Zen's systems work on drone detection, classification, and tracking using passive surveillance, camera sensors, and threat neutralisation by jamming drone communication.

Bharat Electronics gained 3.41 percent to Rs 317.25. BEL provides Counter Drone Systems, which are developed by DRDO and manufactured by the PSU defence manufacturer. The Counter Drone System (D4 System) can conduct real-time searches, detection, tracking, and neutralization of flying micro and small UAVs.

Paras Defence and Space Technologies Ltd rose 4.24 percent to Rs 1,418.40. A subsidiary, Paras Aerospace, manufactures drones, drone services, and related technologies.

In its earnings report, IdeaForge Technology stated that the broader drone industry in India experienced a significant slowdown in FY25, owing to the general elections in the first half and then the slow progress toward procurement initiatives, despite latent demand.

The industry began to regain momentum at the end of the year, with the new emergency procurement cycle for CICT operations entering the tendering phase in Q4, as well as trials of many other civil programs nearing the end of the quarter.

"And thus, while we did not see closure of opportunities to orderbook in Q4, we now see their healthy progression to our L1 pipeline," according to the statement. In FY25, Ideaforge said it transitioned from drone manufacturer to drone solution provider.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd also rose 2.65 percent to Rs 4,536.40. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is developing the HAL RUAV-200, or Rotary Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, for the Indian Army. It has a high altitude and medium endurance.

Previously, Elbit Systems, the Israeli defense tech behemoth listed on the New York Stock Exchange, saw its shares surge following India's Operation Sindoor, which marked the first known operational deployment of SkyStriker kamikaze drones -- a weapon developed jointly by Elbit Systems and Alpha Design Technologies, now part of the Adani Group.

Meanwhile, India announced that over 50 drones were successfully neutralised during a large-scale counter-drone operation carried out by Indian Army air defence units in Udhampur, Samba, Jammu, Akhnoor, Nagrota, and Pathankot.