The Defenders- Drones In Defence Sector | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Utilization of Drones

Drones find extensive application in military and policing operations, yet their utility extends beyond these domains.

• Agricultural Innovation: Terraview, a startup, employs drones equipped with advanced image processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality to enhance vineyard productivity. Drones are also utilized for measuring post-harvest grain quantities.
• Mining Efficiency: Tata Steel effectively employs drones for measuring mining output, optimizing operations in the mining sector.
• Explosive Management: Drones offer a safer alternative for tasks involving explosives, such as deep mining operations or defusing suspected explosive devices.
• Wildlife Monitoring: In African jungles, drones serve in wildlife surveys and aid in detecting and preventing poaching activities.

Drones: A Tool of Terror?

• The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) published a report in February 2021 titled "The Role of Drones in Future Terrorist Attacks," highlighting the emerging threat.
• The Islamic State notably executed the first successful drone-based terrorist attack.
• European Union Security Commissioner Julian King cautioned in 2019 about the potential targeting of European cities by terrorist groups employing drones.
• Instances of drones spotted near the India-Pakistan border and the Line of Control (LoC), some carrying weapons, underscore the growing risk.
• Cases like the seizure of a drone-dropped arms consignment in Punjab's Gurdaspur in June 2020 and drone interception by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Jammu's Hira Nagar sector further accentuate the threat.
• In January 2021, Jammu and Kashmir Police apprehended two individuals picking up a drone-dropped arms consignment.

Challenges in Preventing Drone-based Terror Attacks:

• Surveillance technologies, including radar systems deployed by India at borders and lines of control, primarily focus on larger objects like helicopters, planes, and missiles.
• Effective prevention necessitates drone system jamming and interception.
• Laser-based Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) emerge as potential countermeasures against drone threats.
• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in India has developed two anti-drone DEW systems to address these challenges.

How do you prevent a drone attack?

• It is very difficult to locate small drones and the ones operating them. One needs to deploy drone-detection technology and subsequent countermeasures to tackle this threat.
• Drone detection can be RF-based or via conventional radars tuned to detect drones or via electro-optic payloads that use thermal imaging.
• Once identified, you can launch a kinetic energy weapon against the drone or jam it or confuse it by jamming its GPS.
• Israel’s Iron Dome and other missile systems act within seconds. Detection and action against drones will happen at a very fast pace but it will take some time to gain that kind of capability.

Security threats posed by drones:

• National Security Issues: Drones have demonstrated the potentials for their threat to the security of a country. Drones are operated remotely and can strike where it wants it to strike. Raising serious security issues.
• Terrorism: Drones have been used by various terrorist organisations like ISIS in Syria and Iraq to hit their targets.
• Potential weapons of mass destruction: What makes combat drones in the hands of non-state actors most dangerous is the threat of them being used to deliver weapons of mass destruction.
• Aviation safety: Drones flying too close to commercial aircraft has called for regulations.
• Privacy: Drones have been used by the paparazzi to take the images of individuals breaching their privacy.
• Cross border smuggling: Over the past two years, drones have been deployed regularly by Pakistan-based outfits to smuggle arms, ammunition and drugs into Indian territory. Drones fly low and therefore cannot be detected by any radar system. 

Way Forward

• Security agencies should prioritize the development of advanced anti-drone weaponry such as 'sky fence' and 'drone gun' to effectively thwart terrorist activities or other malicious acts involving drones. Innovative approaches like the Tokyo police's use of 'flying nets' attached to legal drones for capturing rogue UAVs, or the Taiwanese police's testing of RF jammer guns to bring down unauthorized drones, demonstrate the need for versatile countermeasures.
• Addressing the emerging threat of rogue drones requires a balanced approach to regulation. Rather than overly restrictive measures, there should be smart regulation that accommodates the evolving drone sector while addressing security concerns effectively. This entails investing in cutting-edge technologies for countering drones and fostering indigenous research and development, supported by government grants and private investments.
• Initiatives such as the 'National Counter Rogue Drone Guidelines' are steps in the right direction, outlining both procedural and active means of prevention, deterrence, and response. However, these guidelines must be complemented by a comprehensive 'Counter Rogue Drone Deployment Plan' based on thorough vulnerability analysis to ensure a proactive and effective defense against drone-related threats.