Context: The counter drone system developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) now ready to go into production.
About Parliamentary Panel Report “A Review of the Working of DRDO”
The Defence Ministry, in a Parliamentary Panel report “A review of the working of DRDO”, informed the House of the functioning of Defence Research and Development Organisation and future endeavors.
Key Points from the Parlimentary Report
- Development of Counter Drone System: DRDO has developed an indigenous counter drone technology that can counter attacks (soft and hard kill) of all types of drones, including micro drones.
- Significance of Counter Drone System: It uses a laser-based kill system to detect and destroy drones in the air.
- The Counter drone system can detect and jam micro drones up to 3 kilometers and fires laser signals to bring down a target up to 1-2.5 kilometres.
- Transfer of Technology: It has been handed over to private industries, including BEL, Adani, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Icom.
- Development of Drone Systems:
- Tapas Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV developed for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) application is in an advanced stage of developmental trials.
- Short-range armed UAV Archer is being developed for reconnaissance, surveillance and low-intensity conflict is under progress.
- Scarcity of Drone Batteries:
- Lithium Ion-based battery with an indigenous battery management system has been developed by the DRDO which is being used on Tapas UAV, but the cells are still imported.
- The Defence Research and Development Organisation and the ISRO are working on Lithium Ion cell development.
About Counter Drone System
- Counter drone systems are defense systems built to prevent attacks using a Drone by detection, identification and neutralization of an intruding drone. It is categorized as kinetic or non-kinetic.
- Kinetic systems: They fire projectiles, such as bullets or missiles, at a drone to destroy it and incorporate a sensor, such as radar, to detect the drone and a motorized platform to aim and fire the weapon.
- Non-kinetic systems block the flight capability or corrupt the signals crucial for control and navigation. They do it by emitting noise signals at set frequencies, rendering the drone incapable of detecting its command signals or may also transmit false GPS signals.
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What are Drones?
- Definition: They are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can be remotely controlled or fly autonomously using software-controlled flight plans in their embedded systems that work with GPS. It may carry lethal or nonlethal cargo.
- Classification: As per the Drone Rules 2021
- Nano drone: Less than or equal to 250 grams.
- Micro drone: Greater than 250 grams and less than or equal to 2 kilograms.
- Small drone: Greater than 2 kilograms and less than or equal to 25 kilograms.
- Medium drone: Greater than 25 kilograms and less than or equal to 150 kilograms
- Large drone: Greater than 150 kilograms.
- Certification: The Quality Council of India issues airworthiness certificates to manufacturers on the Digital Sky platform if the drone meets all the specified certification standards.
- Application of Drones in Defence:
- Drones can be used in various areas of operation like:
Application of Drones by Narco-Terror Nexus:
- Pakistani smugglers are using hi-tech means to deliver narcotics into India, the BSF and the Punjab Police have recovered 82 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and reported 593 drone sightings along the India-Pakistan border since 2019.
- According to sources, central agencies believe Pakistani smugglers are using the UAVs to finance and supply weapons to pro-Khalistan entities (PKEs) on the Indian side
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- Surveillance and Reconnaissance
- Border security
- Search and Rescue missions and delivery of essential supplies
- Battlefield monitoring, and mine detection and clearance.
- Target acquisition and targeted attacks.
Must Read: NAMO Drone Didi Scheme
About Defence Research and Development Organisation
- Nodal Ministry: It is the Research & Development wing of the Ministry of Defence.
- Mission: To empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies and to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems.
- Examples: Agni and Prithvi series of missiles; light combat aircraft Tejas; multi-barrel rocket launcher Pinaka; air defense system, Akash, etc.
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News Source: The Hindu
January 9, 2024