Steps are being taken to counter the drone threat, says Army Chief

To deal with drone threats, capabilities are being developed both in the kinetic and non-kinetic realm, says the Indian Army Chief. His comments come days after the first ever drone attack hitting a military facility in Jammu Air Force Station. Speaking at a webinar organised by Global Counter-Terrorism Council (GCTC) in association with the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, Gen MM Naravane said “Due to the easy availability of drones, both state and non-state actors will use them in all kinds of combat. And, to deal with the drone threat we are developing capabilities both in the kinetic and non-kinetic realm.”

According to him, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now becoming a critical part of modern warfare. Adding, “Military systems equipped with AI are capable of handling far larger volumes of data gathered more efficiently.”

“Riding on AI Algorithms, the offensive and the imaginative use of drones in various conflicts including Armenia-Azerbaijan, have challenged the usual military hardware of war, just like the artillery, tanks, and the dug-in infantry,” he said.

AI in the modern world is the holy grail of technology and has far reaching implications on the geo-politics as well as geo-strategic.

Referring to the existing defence procurement procedure, the army chief talked about the need to “shed old mind sets and to make procurement procedures more flexible and adaptive’’ in an effort to get niche technologies and to realise the vision of `Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

“The transition to the Digital Age is contrarian to DPP (Defence Procurement Procedure, now called Defence Acquisition Procedure) & DPM (Defence Procurement Manual) mind-sets,” he said.

Measures in place

“Our troops on the ground are being sensitised to this evolving threat and certain measures have been put in place to deal with them.”

Elaborating on the measures, the army chief in his virtual address stated “WE are catering for the offensive use of drones. And are also focussing on the defensive measures or the counter drone systems. Or to prevent drone attacks on any of our critical installations by state or non – state actors.”

Situation along the Line of Actual Control

In his address, the Army Chief said that the talks with China at different levels have helped in building trust between the two sides. Since February the situation on the ground has been normal for quite some time, following the disengagement from the Kailash Ranges as well as the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso.

On the disengagement: “Both sides strictly adhered in letter and spirit to the disengagement that was agreed upon during different meetings,” he said.

Both sides have been engaged at different levels of talks be it diplomatic, military or political. At the military level too the engagement is from the highest military commander down to the delegation level.

According to him, “Engagement has helped in building trust between the two sides and going ahead the remaining issues will be resolved too.”

What have others said earlier on the drone attack?

According to Lt General DP Pandey, who heads the Srinagar-based HQs 15 Corps, “The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force have further tightened security and have also activated countermeasures at their forward bases to pre-empt future attacks.”

Country’s first Chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, urged the Indian Armed forces to start preparing for future generation warfare.