Two drone-dropped packets containing arms and cash seized near LOC in Akhnoor sector

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• Drones: Threat to Internal Security
• Background:
• Threat to internal security
• Why Tackling Drone is Challenging? 
• Steps taken by the Indian govt

Why in news?

• Two drone-dropped packets containing arms and cash were seized in a joint operation by the Army and the police from a village near the Line of Control in Akhnoor sector in Jammu.
• The packets, believed to have been dropped by Pakistani drones for subversive activities, were noticed lying in an open field.

In Focus: Drones: Threat to Internal Security

Background

• In June 2021, the Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Jammu was attacked using two low-intensity improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
  • These IEDs were dropped from two drones.
• It was the first time that suspected Pakistan-based terrorists have used unmanned aerial vehicles in an attack.
• Since then, drone sightings have increased manifold along the India–Pakistan international border and along the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir.
  • Border Security Force (BSF) reported more than 268 drone sightings in 2022, compared to 109 in 2021 and 49 in 2020.
• In the Poonch terror attack in April 2023, in which five soldiers were killed, it is reported that drones were used to drop weapons and cash to militants who carried out the attack.

Threat to internal security

• Transfer of weaponry to terrorists –
  • In December 2019, the Punjab police unmasked a terror network using drones to ferry arms and ammunition across the international border from Pakistan.
• Attack on critical infrastructure
  • In September 2019, the Saudi Arabia’s largest oil field was attacked using a swarm of drones. This highlights the capability of drone in carrying out pinpointed attack on critical infrastructure of a nation.
• Intelligence gathering and surveillance
  • If we closely analyse the pattern of drone detection on Indo Pak borders, we can say that drones are widely being used to gather information.
• Supports Organised Crime
  • The use of drones, especially by the drug cartels, is not a new modus operandi. Recently, the drone, recovered by the BSF from Fazilka’s (Punjab) bordering village, had two packets of heroin weighing around 1.6 kg.
• Challenge to anti-terror operations
  • Police and security forces, trained in conventional methods to counter-terrorism, find themselves clueless when confronting unmanned aerial vehicles.

Why Tackling Drone is Challenging?

• Conventional radar systems fail to detect small flying objects. If these radars are calibrated to detect drones, these systems might confuse a bird for a drone.
• Currently, border forces in India largely use eyesight to spot drones and then shoot them down.
  • Shooting these drones are very difficult as they fly at altitude difficult to target.
• 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 fool-proof.

Steps taken by the Indian govt

• Importing military drones
  • India is presently an importer of military drones from Israel and the United States.
  • The Searcher Mark II, Heron II, Harpy, and the Harops are major UAVs from Israel.
  • India and United States are on the verge of completing one the biggest Predator drone deals, where India intends to buy 31 MQ 9B UAVs.
• Indigenous drone development
  • Nishant was one of the DRDO’s first tactical UAV projects, later upgraded to a wheeled version, Panchi.
  • The indigenous MALE UAV development program of the DRDO reached a milestone in March 2022 with the Rustom-II crossing at an altitude of 27,500 ft with 18 hours of endurance.
• Reforms in the drone sector
  • The civil Drone Rules, 2021 aspire to make India the global drone hub of the world by 2030.
• Anti–drone technology
  • Counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) technology neutralizes enemy drones with “soft kill” (blocking communication lines) as well as “hard kill” (bringing down the drone) techniques.
  • India is currently focusing more on developing C-UAS technology.
  • Earlier, the DRDO has handed over D-4 (Drone, Detect, Deter, and Destroy) systems to the Army.
  • DRDO has also made some investments in anti-drone technologies such as the ADITYA Directed Energy Weapon (DEW).
    • DEWs are electromagnetic systems that convert chemical or electrical energy into radiated energy.
    • They focus this energy on a target to cause physical damage.
  • The DRDO’s Counter-Drone System was deployed for VVIP protection at:
    • Republic Day parades in 2020 and 2021,
    • Former US President Donald Trump’s visit to Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad.
  • Hyderabad-based technology R&D firm Grene Robotics has designed and developed India’s first indigenous drone defence dome called Indrajaal.

Q1) What is Directed Energy Weapon (DEW)?

A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that uses concentrated electromagnetic energy to damage its target. DEWs can include lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams.

Q2) What is Border Security Force (BSF)?

The Border Security Force (BSF) is a paramilitary organization that guards India's borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India and is known as the country's first line of defense. 

Source: Two drone-dropped packets with arms, cash seized near LoC in Jammu | The Diplomat | Times of India