NEW DELHI, Nov 29: The anti-drone systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) are learnt to have been detailed in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security cordon.
The PM’s residence has been secured with fixed anti-drone systems while the portable ones will form part of his car cavalcade, official sources said. This has been made mandatory as there has been a drone threat since beginning of 2020.
The DRDO has designated Bharat Electronics as the lead agency for development and production of much needed anti-drone system for the armed forces.
With Pakistan based terrorists using Chinese made commercial drones to cart weapon payloads and drugs across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and international border, the DRDO has been able to successfully develop passive and active anti-drone technology to either disable or shoot down enemy drones, official sources said.
The sources said the DRDO would soon inform the Indian armed forces about the development of the indigenous anti-drone system. The anti-drone system, which was deployed during 2020 Republic and Independence Day, has a range of over two to three kilometres with radar capability to pick up the drone and then use frequencies to jam the unmanned aerial vehicle. The other developed option included spotting the drone through radar and then targeting it by laser beam.
Since 2019, Pakistan based terrorist groups had been using drones across the international border in Punjab as well as Jammu and Kashmir to send weapons and drugs to home-grown terror groups for militant activities. Commercially available Chinese drones can carry up to 10 kilograms of weapons and drug payloads.
In addition to the DRDO, the Indian private sector along with the security agencies has also been able to develop anti-drone systems which have been successfully tested to repel the aerial threat, official sources said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
