 "India says Pakistan used Songar drones on May 8 night. Image Courtesy: asisguard.com.tr")
Pakistan tried to attack India with a barrage of missiles and drones last night (May 8). The Indian Armed Forces successfully thwarted Pakistani military strikes on the country’s western border.
On Friday (May 9), Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army revealed that Pakistan had dispatched 300-400 drones to 36 locations across Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Punjab to target military installations. She said that the preliminary investigation showed that these were Turkish-made Songar drones.
“On the intervening night of May 7 and 8, the Pakistani Army violated Indian airspace several times over the entire western border with the intention of targeting military infrastructure. Not only this, the Pakistani Army also fired heavy-calibre weapons along the Line of Control. Around 300 to 400 drones were used to attempt infiltration at 36 locations. The Indian armed forces shot down many of these drones using kinetic and non-kinetic means,” Colonel Qureshi said in the media briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
“The possible purpose of such large-scale aerial intrusions was to test air defence systems and collect intelligence. Forensic investigation of the wreckage of the drones is being done. Initial reports suggest that they are Turkish Asisguard Songar drones…,” she added.
What are these drones? We will explain.
Turkey’s Songar drones
Developed by defence company ASISGUARD, Songar is Turkey’s first national armed drone system.
The indigenous drones were introduced to the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces in 2020. A year later, they were integrated into an armoured 4x4 land vehicle, which added to the drones’ capability to detect and take out targets in advance during cross-border missions or internal security operations, as per an article in the Defence Turkey magazine.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is equipped with 5.56 calibre 45 mm NATO standard firearms, as per the website of the Turkish defence firm.
Songar boasts automatic fire stabilisation and can be effectively deployed for military and security operations. Its autonomous take-off and landing capability enables it to respond to any threat around the clock.
With an operational range of 3-5 km, the drone can fly at altitudes up to 2800 meters. It can transmit video in real-time and is used for detecting targets, surveillance and neutralising a threat, the magazine piece noted. It can also simultaneously carry out post-mission analysis with a single or multiple drone systems.
The Songar drone’s maximum take-off weight is 45 kg and its flight time is up to 30 minutes without payload. It was reported in 2022 that the Turkish firm sold these unmanned vehicles to Asian and African countries.
In January 2024, ASISGUARD joined hands with Repkon Defense Systems to upgrade the drone system to carry a 40mm multiple grenade launcher, increasing its ability to engage ground targets more effectively.
Turkey’s support to Pakistan
The revelation of Pakistan using Turkish drones in the clashes with India comes amid Ankara’s support for Islamabad.
After Operation Sindoor on early May 7, when Indian strikes hit nine terror sites in Pakistan and PoK, Turkiye’s foreign affairs ministry condemned India’s “attack”, saying it raised the “risk of an all-out war.”
It also called on both sides to “exercise common sense and refrain from unilateral actions.”
“We expect that measures will be taken to reduce tensions in the region as soon as possible and that the necessary mechanisms, including in the field of counter-terrorism, will be put in place to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents. We also support Pakistan’s call for an investigation into the 22 April terrorist attack," the Turkish foreign ministry said.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan also dialled Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday, expressing his solidarity after India’s strikes, which Turkey said were “targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
Erdogan also told Sharif that Turkey backed what he called Islamabad’s “calm and restrained policies” in the crisis, his office said in a statement.
With inputs from agencies