Post-Operation Sindoor, CISF trains over 7,000 personnel in drone, counter-drone operations

A year after Operation Sindoor, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has trained over 7,000 personnel in drone and counter-drone operations, a CISF official said.

The training in conjunction with the Indian Air Force (IAF) was initiated amid the growing threat from unauthorised Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

The official said the CISF had been tasked with auditing the security of critical installations such as nuclear power plants and thermal power plants among others.

“It is imperative that the CISF personnel posted at vital installations are aware about the emerging threat scenario from UAVs. They should know how to identify and disable such flying objects. The training is going on an intensive scale,” said the official.

A barrage of attacks by drones along the Pakistan border were thwarted by security forces in May 2025 after Operation Sindoor.

So far, the CISF had trained 7,120 personnel in drone and counter-drone operations, which covered piloting the drones, aerial surveillance, mapping, and neutralisation of hostile drones.

The CISF was also in the process of establishing dedicated Drone Training Schools in Hyderabad, Bhilai and Behror, with advanced academic programmes planned alongside the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune.

The official added that as modern security threats evolved from traditional physical breaches to hostile drones and sophisticated cyberattacks, the CISF was executing a multi-domain modernisation drive.

Industrial disasters

While combating terror and cyberthreats, the CISF continued to be a crucial first responder for industrial disasters, the official said. Its dedicated Fire Wing — comprising nearly 9,700 personnel across 23 States — responded to 2,889 fire incidents in 2025, successfully saving property worth ₹172.55 crore.

After a fire broke out in a refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Rajasthan’s Baltora district on April 20, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to inaugurate it, the CISF was involved in the fire-fighting operation and was also helping with the investigation of what led to the fire.

There were no casualties reported in the vicinity of the crude distillation unit of the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) refinery, however, the inauguration was postponed.

Acting on the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directives, the CISF recently trained 450 State Fire Services personnel from 187 cities in advanced industrial firefighting and disaster management at its Fire Services Training Institute, Hyderabad.

The MHA has allocated ₹450 crore under the Modernisation Plan-V for the CISF to overhaul its foundational training infrastructure. Digital Integrated Command and Control Centres were being established at all training academies to give recruits hands-on technological exposure from day one, the official said.

The CISF had significantly expanded its Battle Inoculation Training Programme in collaboration with the Army. Young personnel (under 35 years of age) who passed rigorous, NSG-aligned physical endurance tests were being sent to elite Army formations in the Kashmir Valley. There, they were trained in night operations, jungle warfare, and close-combat tactics.

Currently, 657 of these highly trained commandos had been deployed across 49 airports to serve as Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs). To ensure uniformity in combat readiness, the CISF had adopted a “One Force, One Outdoor Standard” doctrine, requiring all ranks to clear an intensive 26-obstacle course designed to NSG benchmarks.