Science and Technology › Defence technology

Military platforms, drones and new weapons

The platforms that carry military power: aircraft and their engines, ships and submarines, tanks and artillery, drones and counter drone systems, and directed energy and electronic warfare. Prelims has asked about fifth generation fighters, stealth and drone swarms.

Foundation note: Stealth: radar cross section and how to shrink it

UPSC has asked

Prelims 2025: unmanned aerial vehicles, their landing, hovering and power

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gas turbine: An engine that burns fuel in a stream of compressed air and uses the hot expanding gas to spin a turbine; every jet engine is one.

fifth generation stealth fighter: A combat aircraft built around stealth, sensor fusion and advanced avionics, rather than speed and manoeuvre alone.

Remotely piloted aircraft: An aircraft flown by a crew on the ground rather than on board.

Maritime domain awareness: Knowing what is happening at sea that could affect security or the economy.

Fibre optic drone: A drone that receives commands and sends video through an ultra thin fibre optic cable spooled out in flight, largely immune to jamming.

Kill chain: The sequence find, fix, track, target, engage and assess.

Active electronically scanned array: A radar that steers its beams electronically rather than by rotating, tracking many targets simultaneously.

Frigate: A warship smaller than a destroyer that can operate far from the coast in blue water.

Littoral: Waters close to the shore, noisy and cluttered for submarine hunting.