Jammu drone attack: Why India needs Israel's technology as reality of UAV strikes sets in

For a country that has an Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) market pegged at $866 million and simultaneously a global market that has touched $21.47 billion, the audacious drone attacks on Sunday at the Air Force Station in Jammu must be sending shivers down the spine in the concerned corners. This essentially means drones are available in the country in large numbers and can be probably weaponised by anyone, anywhere and anytime. With fast modifications of the platform structure, payload technology and miniaturisation of various components, the threat level is humongous. Understandably, India hardly has any time to build a robust anti-drone capability so that this delivery platform does not allow evil minds to land the country into a catastrophic and tragic circumstance. It is time to get battle-ready. Why are drones dangerous? Drones become dangerous depending on who is operating them and with what intention. Vivek Gopal in his paper Developing an Effective Anti-Drone System for India’s Armed Forces while describing the threat that drones possess said, “Drones have low Radar Cross Section (RCS), slow speed and a small size — these characteristics make the task of detection difficult, and thereafter, identification and localisation even more so.” It is estimated that there are 6 lakh rogue drones. The National Counter Rogue Drone Guidelines, 2019, clearly mentioned the threat that rogue drones pose to India. It said referring to the Israel-Lebanon war in 2006, “In certain incidents, the small drones were also armed with explosive ordnance, to convert them into potentially lethal guided missiles, thus demonstrating the growing sophistication with which these potent warriors have found relevance in combat zones.” In near procrastination of what might happen in the future, and which became a reality in the wee hours last Sunday in Jammu during the drone attack in the IAF base, the guidelines had said, “The sub-conventional threat from rogue unmanned aerial platforms has emerged as a new threat spectrum with an expanded list of target systems and vulnerability levels from the ‘bad actors’. India, too is not immune to such threats. Hence, the risk of aerospace safety and threat to vital installations from rogue drones require the security establishment to devise regulatory mechanism and protective security apparatus to inhibit extremist groups from using these platforms for their ulterior purposes.” The National Counter Rogue Drone Guidelines have accepted the ineffectiveness of the traditional air defence systems against small, slow, low-flying drones. In presence of a sheer number of UAS, the evolving drone threats are difficult to counter due to their different sizes, flight characteristics, capabilities, performance parameters, mission and vulnerabilities. The focus was immediately laid upon to have an effective Counter Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS) to:

• detect and track
• identify and classify
• engage and defeat

This is easier said than done, however. Not only the counter-drone systems will have to be capable of detecting and neutralising a growing variety of targets, but also differentiating between legitimate and potentially threatening drones will be a massive challenge itself. “New flight modes that have been introduced in UAVs or drones which include obstacle avoidance using ultrasonic sensors, terrain mapping cameras integrated as SoC, follow me, tapfly, active track and sports mode. Better battery systems have been incorporated giving the drone larger endurance,” Gopal said. Where does India stand on anti-drone infrastructure?

• In India, although the DRDO-made anti-drone system was first deployed during Republic Day last year, it is still to be employed in a bigger way.
• The DRDO anti-drone system can bring down micro drones through either jamming of command and control links or by damaging the drones through laser-based Directed Energy Weapon.
• It is said that the DRDO-developed system can detect and jam micro drones up to 3 kilometres and use laser to bring down a target up to 1-2.5 kilometres depending on the wattage of the laser weapon.

In December last year, two anti-drone technologies were demonstrated by DRDO Young Scientists’ Laboratory - Asymmetric Technologies (DYSL-AT) and RCI demonstrated drone and innovative anti-drone technologies to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The anti-drone technology includes ways to counter stationery as well as high-speed moving targets. The key features of the weapon system include a secure communication link, effective recoil management system, high firing angular resolution and vision-based target detection and tracking. In January this year, the National Security Guards had awarded a Rs 1,49,86,000 worth contract to Bengaluru-based Accord Software & System for the procurement of indigenous Counter Drone Technology/System - Indigenous Low Power GNSS Jammer(OMNI). As per the National Counter Rogue Drone Guidelines, 2019, the counter-drone infrastructure needs to adopt diversified defensive strategies in the five concentric circles of prevention, deterrence, denial, detection, interruption and destruction. Early detection and identification are key to effectively neutralise the UAV threat. [caption id=“attachment_9756601” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Two consecutive blasts were heard at the IAF-controlled area of Jammu airport. News18[/caption] Why Sparrowhawk may be helpful for India to deal with micro-drone threat As part of an operational pilot programme to employ C-UAV for the US Special Forces, Israel’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense have collaborated on developing a system that would neutralise threats from not so high above the sky. The result of such a joint effort was the “Skylord system, also known as Sparrowhawk, that has been developed by the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) of Israel’s Ministry of Defense, drone developer XTEND, and the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office of the US Department of Defense”. According to The Defense Post, Sparrowhawk’s augmented reality interface allows the operator to perform complex tasks by remotely watching the area of the drone’s operation “through the glider’s eyes” and to intercept various aerial threats from a safe distance through the deployment of payloads. The Skylord system mobile C-UAS inspection and interception system allows close examination of aerial threats ranging from terrorist drones (munition equipped and surveillance-based) to incendiary fixed-wing models airplanes and other malicious aerial threats and deal with the situation accordingly. It can carry up to 1 kg of variable payloads and allows the operator to feel the area “through the skimmer’s eyes”. What is SMASH 2000 PLUS anti-drone system for the Indian Navy? In December 2020, the Indian Navy decided to procure SMASH 2000 rifle sights, manufactured by Israeli company Smart Shooter, as protection against drone attacks. The SMASH 2000 PLUS, which the Indian Navy will have, is based on the SMASH 2000 system but includes a Counter UAS Mode that provides for the kinetic elimination of small, low-flying drones. As per open-source data available from Sharp Shooter, the SMASH 2000 PLUS is equipped with: • multiple operational modes like see-through reflex sight (red-dot) for rapid-fire • day mode re-control assisted shots using see-through projected markers • night mode re-control assisted shots using low light video display • drone kill mode where drones can be locked, tracked and eliminated. There is also an integrated re-control computer, user selection of ballistics data for different rifles and/or ammunition types, upgradable ballistics formats and external add-on to in-service weapons. Among the currently supported weapons and ammunitions include M4 weapon (5.56mm) - M193 / M855 and rechargeable battery - 72 hours or up to 3,600 SMASH assisted shots and NIR flashlight (optional activation). What lies ahead • There is no dearth of incidents where drones were used to target vital assets and personnel worldwide and it poses a serious challenge for India’s national security. • With the advancement of technology, these threats will only amplify. Whether it is the military or the civil society, no one is safe from this new trend of security threat. • Drones are no longer mere nuisance, they can be a catalyst of destruction when they fall into wrong hands.