Aftermath of The Drone Attack on The IAF base in Jammu
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
New Agency ANI reports the Indian Air Force (IAF) has initiated a process of acquiring 10 anti-drone systems. The IAF will deploy these systems at different airbases and has asked vendors to provide a multi-sensor, multi-kill solution to enforce effectively.
The decision comes days after a drone attack on the IAF base in Jammu. Pakistan based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is believed to be behind the attack on June 27. The Jammu attack was the first instance of a drone being used to carry out such an operation in the country by terrorists from across the border.
Amit Chaturvedi (Editor at HT Digital Streams) reports the IAF has said in its Request for Information (RFI) that the indigenous anti-drone system should be Laser-based Directed Energy Weapon. The IAF further has mandated that all the 10 counter unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) are required in mobile configuration mounted on indigenous vehicles with cross-country capability. They should be able to mount on rooftop/open ground.
Since 2020, the Border Security Force (BSF) has recorded no less than 99 drone sightings on the western borders - from Jammu and Kashmir to Gujarat.
Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said last week that drones have emerged as clear and present danger. He said that easy availability of drones allowed both state and non-state actors to use them, increasing the challenges faced by the security forces. “Drones will increasingly be used in all sorts of combat in future by state and non-state actors. We will have to factor it in our future planning,” the army chief said at a seminar organised by the Global Counter Terrorism Council, a think tank.
Chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat also echoed similar sentiments. “You have to be prepared for all this and yet at the same time send a strong message that if anything of this nature, whether in grey zone or in the hybrid domain, damages our assets and affects our national security, we should reserve the right to respond at a place and time of our choosing and in a manner in which we wish to respond,” Rawat said at the same seminar.
Objective of the drone attack
This drone attack on June 27, writes Lt Gen Philip Campose Retd. (Former Vice-Chief Of Army Staff) “is the first known case of the use of the aerial route, possibly employing ‘off-the-shelf’ autonomous drones equipped with GPS sensors to bypass the checkpoints on the land route as well as the perimeter fencing and protective measures.
“Alternatively, if these drones were ground-controlled, it implies that the controllers could be within a few kilometres of the target area. Such use of the aerial route by Pakistani terrorists to deliver explosive payloads to the target area poses special challenges due to the enhanced potential of wreaking damage to sensitive targets and assets…..Defence installations, especially those close to the border, have been the preferred targets of Pakistan-based terrorist organisations………”
Although the drone attack caused negligible damage, “nonetheless, the message was clear. Possibly, in view of the recent lack of success of their human terror modules in executing attacks, Pakistan has introduced another low-cost means of carrying out such attacks against Indian targets. The use of drones also enables deniability by Pakistan state agencies, which, predictably, will deny totally or ascribe responsibility to non-state actors.
“……..It appears that the aim of this attack was not only to cause damage/casualties and instil insecurity in military units close to the border but also to try and compel India and its armed forces to divert disproportionate attention and resources to deal with this threat.
“On a higher plane, it would not be far-fetched to infer that the strike could be aimed at diverting capital funds from those aimed at modernising the Indian military to further beefing up protective measures opposite the Pakistan borders……..”
