This year, the Indian Army deployed indigenous anti-drone jammers and spoofers in the Jammu and Punjab region to counter the drones carrying weapons, explosives, and drugs, launched by terrorist organizations with bases in Pakistan. Using the system which has worked effectively, Indian Army successfully prevented many such drones from flying into India, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.
Pakistani drones are Chinese-made, and like the majority of UAVs, they have two links, one to the GPS satellites and the other to the handler located on the opposite side of the border. Anti-drone jammers hinder the controller and drone from communicating, while the spoofer takes over the controller’s communication link to confuse the drone.
These native technological products have produced useful results, and the army is impressed with their performance, according to the report. They have boosted the country’s ability to combat the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by terrorist organizations to transport supplies, weapons and improvised explosive devices (IED) into the two vulnerable areas of India.
The anti-drone system deployed by Indian Army has a range of over 10 km, and it is equipped with radar to detect incoming UAVs. After detecting intruding drones using electromagnetic waves or radio frequency, the system uses jammers and spoofers to disable them and prevent them from reaching their destination. The jammer blocks communication between the drone and its handler, as a result, the handler becomes unable to control the drone and it ultimately crashes. On the other hand, the spoofer confuses the drone by disrupting its link with the satellite, which causes the drone to loss direction and fails to reach its destination.
The army purchased 30 jammer and spoofer systems to be utilized in the Jammu and Punjab sectors, and tested them along the western border. The measures have successfully deterred drones from crossing the border into India for the past three months.
In addition to smuggling in weapons, drones are more frequently used to bring in drugs, mainly heroin and cocaine from the Afghanistan-Pakistan corridor. The army is particularly worried about the situation south of the Pir Panjal, where Pakistani terrorist outfits are smuggling weapons and military-grade explosives into India.
Terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba have been sending explosive-carrying drones from their launch pads in the Sialkot sector to inflict damage in the Jammu region for the past three years. In June 2021, such a drone attack targeted the Indian Air Force base in Jammu, when two drones carrying explosives crashed into the IAF station, causing minor damage to the station.
The Pakistani establishment is also targeting Punjab with drones that are loaded with weapons and narcotics so that separatists can use the proceeds from drug sales (which are a major issue in the state) to buy more weapons and explosives and radicalize young Sikhs in the name of religion.
The Indian Army intends to procure more anti-drone equipment as well as armed drones, according to South Block officials, in order to be able to launch retaliatory strikes in addition to preventing cross-border smuggling.
