Drone attack

GS PAPER III: Security challenges and their management in border areas - linkages of organized crime with terrorism.

Context: In a terror attack, two low-intensity explosions left two Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel injured at the Jammu Air Force Station.

The devices are suspected to have been dropped and detonated by unmanned aerial vehicles.
While the Jammu attack was the first such instance in India where a drone was weaponised.
The need for an anti-drone system shielding critical installations in the country came under sharp focus after drone attack on an IAF base in Jammu, 14 km from the international border.
At present, the only option is to shoot down the drones, It would require sniper fire and the drone to be within range. Also, sighting drones, especially during night, is not easy.
Drones have also been increasingly used in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria, by the US to carry out targeted assassinations.
In 2020, Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, the most powerful figure in Iran after its supreme leader, was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq.
In 2018, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro also claimed he survived an assassination attempt involving drones rigged with explosives.

How to counter the drone threat

Several private defence contractors, over the years, have begun to offer off-the-shelf anti-drone tech to counter hostile Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), popularly known as drones.
Companies, predominantly based out of Israel, US, and even China, have developed anti-drone systems using existing technologies such as radars, frequency jammers, optic and thermal sensors

But how do these systems stand apart?

It comes down to the range and the manner in which the threat is assessed and neutralised.
Some systems simply monitor and alert the presence of a drone, while others are equipped with ballistics and even lasers.

What are the existing anti-drone systems?

Rafael, the defence company behind Israel’s famed Iron Dome missile system, has also developed something called the Drone Dome.
Like the Iron Dome, which identifies and intercepts incoming missiles, the Drone Dome detects and intercepts drones.
Besides the collection of static radars, radio frequency sensors, and cameras it uses to offer “a 360-degree coverage”, the Drone Dome is also capable of jamming the commands being sent to a hostile drone and blocking visuals, if any, that are being transmitted back to the drone operator.
Its highlight, however, is the precision with which it can shoot high-powered laser beams to bring down targets.

Is there an indigenous solution for India?

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an ‘Anti Drone System’ and it will be deployed this year.
The anti-drone system can detect and jam drones up to 3km and uses a laser weapon to fire at targets that are 1 to 2.5km away.
Navy was procuring Smash-2000 rifles to counter drones, among other measures.

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