Facing Up To Drone Challenge

Context: Recent drone attack in Jammu underlines an emerging threat as well as a need to build capacity in this field. Analysing India’s place in drone technology and offensive measures to counter such attacks in future.

Use of  drones by military and terrorists:

• Military use: Modern drones are being used militarily since the 1990s, including by the US during the Gulf War.
  • In India, UAVs range from 250 g (maximum altitude 2,000 ft and range 2 km) to over 150 kg (300,00 ft and unlimited range). 
  • In India, the most commonly known drones are quad- and hexacopters used for civil and commercial purposes and Heron drones used for military surveillance.

• Terrorist use: 

• According to the Association of the US Army (AUSA), the first attempted drone attack by a terror group can be traced to 1994.
• In 2013, al-Qaeda attempted an attack in Pakistan using multiple drones, but security forces prevented it.
• In August 2018, an assassination attempt was made on the President of Venezuela, Nicolãs Maduro, using two IED-carrying GPS-guided drones.
• According to AUSA, between 1994 and 2018, more than 14 planned or attempted terrorist attacks took place using drones.
• In recent years there have been an estimated 100-150 sightings of suspected drones near India’s western border annually.

Challenges in tackling the drones:

• Failure in detection: 

• Conventional radar systems are not meant for detecting small flying objects, and, even if they are calibrated that way, they might confuse a bird for a drone, and the system may get overwhelmed.
• Currently, border forces in India largely use eyesight to spot drones and then shoot them down.
• Technology to disable their navigation, interfere with their radio frequency, or just fry their circuits using high energy beams have also been tested. None of these has, however, proven foolproof.
• Responsibility of detection: It is undecided whether the armed forces or the civilian forces would be responsible for such detections.  It is a sub-tactical threat but requires a strategic response. Entire threat perception has to be relooked.

Drone technology in India:

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a detect-and-destroy technology for drones, but it is not yet into mass production.
• The DRDO’s Counter-drone System was deployed for VVIP protection at the Republic Day parades in 2020 and 2021.
• The DRDO system, developed in 2019, has capabilities for hardkill (destroying a drone with lasers) and softkill (jamming a drone’s signals).
• Last year the Navy got two unarmed SeaGuardian Predator drones on lease from the US.
• On January 15, during the Army Day parade, the Army showcased its swarm technology, with 75 drones swarming together to destroy simulated targets.