AUTHOR PROFILE Author: Col Lakshyajeet Singh Chauhan Title: Wings of Astra: Designing the Future of Indigenous Drones Genre: Technology / Defense Strategy / Engineering Col Lakshyajeet Singh Chauhan is an Indian Army officer, aerospace educator, and defence-technology innovator whose career blends rigorous military experience with advanced academic research and hands-on drone development experience. A graduate of IIT Madras with an M.Tech in Aerospace Propulsion, he has served as an Instructor of Aerodynamics and Aircraft Propulsion at the Military College of EME, Secunderabad, where he guided officers and JCOs and supervised critical research and M.Tech theses in aviation systems. During his period as instructor at MCEME, he designed and developed a coaxial rotor UAV and was able to successfully test its first prototype. His early career included commanding the Maintenance Flight for Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, overseeing all servicing and flight-line operations, and later leading a major EME unit in Jaisalmer with responsibility for six Technical Support Units, including those maintaining MBT Arjun tanks and artillery systems. Beyond instructional and command roles, he has contributed to frontline innovation—his IIT Madras research on a Rocket Backpack for the Indian Army was selected under the prestigious IMPRINT India Mission, and he has since extended this passion for indigenous technology into the rapidly evolving drone ecosystem. Today, he serves as Project Head for establishing drone manufacturing at 515 Army Base Workshop, where he has led the design and development of four indigenous drone platforms in partnership with the Bangalore R&D ecosystem and IIT Madras. He has been an eminent speaker and have delivered various talks on drone technology at IISc Bangalore, IIM Bangalore and International Conferences organised by IEEE. As consultant and advisor to various aerospace companies, he is guiding to build one of India’s most promising drone-technology ventures, spanning agriculture drones, medical-logistics drones, surveillance platforms, RPTO training, and advanced autonomy research. His expertise lies at the intersection of drone engineering, electronic warfare resilience, network-centric operations, policy frameworks, and indigenous manufacturing—making him uniquely positioned to articulate India’s unfolding aerial revolution. Through this book, Lakshyajeet brings together his lived military experience, technical depth, and vision for an Atmanirbhar drone future, offering readers a comprehensive and strategic understanding of how drones are reshaping warfare, governance, industry, and society.