Upgraded 20 October 2026 at 22:46 IST
The Indian Air Force showcased the Made-in-India FF Bot at Exercise Vayu Shakti 2026, highlighting firefighting robotics and air base healing amidst wartime risks.
At the Pokhran variety in Rajasthan on 27 February 2026, the Indian Air Force invested the afternoon battle a simulated opponent airfield throughout Exercise Vayu Shakti 2026. The targets consisted of a runway, radar websites, bunkers, ammo discards and an interaction centre. The very same workout likewise included a maker developed for the opposite issue: the FF Bot, a Made in India firefighting robotic established under the iDEX program by Swadeshi Empresa Private Limited of Changodar, near Ahmedabad, to assist an air base recuperate after taking a hit.
Offending strikes took the headings throughout Operation Sindoor in May 2025. In the early hours of 10 May, the Air Force struck Pakistani military bases. At an instruction the next day, the Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, revealed satellite pictures of damage at Sargodha, Jacobabad, Bholari, Rafiqui, Murid, Nur Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian.
The rundowns likewise covered attacks coming the other method. On 7 and 8 May, Pakistan attempted to strike 15 Indian areas with drones and rockets, consisting of Adampur, Bhuj, Uttarlai, Phalodi, Nal and Bathinda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on informed Parliament that on 9 May, Indian air defences obstructed about 1,000 rockets and drones. At the very same press instructions, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh revealed time-stamped satellite images to negate Pakistani claims of damage to Indian airfields such as Suratgarh and Sirsa, while Pakistan’s previous air chief, Sohail Aman, declared that 34 Indian bases had actually been struck.
Air defence stopped the inbound salvos in May 2025, and the Pokhran workout revealed the Akash surface-to-air rocket along with Spyder systems and counter-drone equipment. Air personnel organizers can not presume that every rocket will be shot down in a future war. If a warhead makes it through, an air base deals with 3 losses: sorties cancelled while the runway is shut, airplane harmed on the ground, and fuel or ammo damaged by fire.
A year after Operation Sindoor, the militaries were reported to be developing solidified underground bunkers for fuel, oil, lubes, ammo and medical centers along the western front. Reports likewise explained underground command centres and portable 3D-printed bunkers. This passive defence work is running along with Mission Sudarshan Chakra, the air defence task Modi revealed on Independence Day in 2025 and for which a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) panel has actually prepared a pre-feasibility report.
Concrete bunkers safeguard fuel and bombs while they are locked underground. They do not put out a fire if a rocket strikes a fuel farm, a garage or an open weapons bay while airplane are being reversed for a sortie. That is the function the Air Force’s firefighting robotics are suggested to fill.
Swadeshi Empresa states the Air Force purchased the FF Bot through emergency situation procurement with a 12-month shipment schedule, which it provided the order in 11 months. In January 2026, the Air Force order was reported as covering 80 systems for air bases, upkeep garages, fuel storage locations and ammo centers. Under the 6th emergency situation procurement tranche (EP-6), authorized by the Defence Acquisition Council on 16 May 2025 with powers of about 40,000 crore, each agreement is topped at 300 crore, need to be signed within 40 days and should be provided within a year.
At Pokhran, the FF Bot was checked in particles and fire situations, on irregular surface and in low exposure. Operators managed it from outside the threat radius utilizing a console with a touchscreen and joystick. The robotic has a stainless-steel body, integrated cooling and 6 powered wheels with suspension. It brings optical and thermal pan-tilt-zoom cams to find hotspots through smoke, battles fires with a foam jet and a fog-water screen, and can drag a charged pipe or tow as much as 5 tonnes. Authorities likewise call power stations, airports, fuel storage and catastrophe reaction as civilian usages, following its earlier release at a fire at the Visakhapatnam refinery.
The Vayu Shakti workout kept up more than 130 airplane in the existence of President Droupadi Murmu. Putting a firefighting robotic into it revealed that the Air Force deals with fire healing as part of wartime preparedness. Authorities declarations, nevertheless, still provide no figure for the number of western bases have actually completed their underground bunkers, or how quick a struck base is anticipated to fly once again.
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