India grown drone manufacturing company Zuppa Geo Navigation Technology claimed that their drones are immune to hijack as they do not have any Chinese components in them and are locally manufactured.
There has been an increased focus on building indigenous drone systems as it was found that there were Chinese spare parts in the drones used by the Indian Army. The usage of Chinese spares in defence equipment for India comes with huge potential for risks, including the transfer of data. Some time ago, the Department of Defence Production (DDP), in a letter to industry bodies, cautioned against private defence companies using Chinese parts.
In August, there was an instance of an Indian drone straying across the line of control into Pakistan. There were reports that suggested that this was an instance of hijacking.
Zuppa reportedly claimed the drone was hijacked by Pakistan as it had Chinese technology which made it vulnerable.
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A few weeks ago, the company had written to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, demanding a ban on the import from Chinese firms that allegedly violated its intellectual property rights.
According to a report in The New Indian Express, founder and MD of the company, Sai Pattabiram, said, "We had warned the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Civil Aviation and National Security Council Secretariat about the possibility of such an incident happening.”
The report said while many drone makers depend on Chinese products for major components in the drone, Zuppa is making these locally, including printed circuit board (PCB).