Drone detection systems "EMPOWER IAS"

Context: 

• The need for an anti-drone system shielding critical installations in the country came under sharp focus after a drone attack on an IAF base in Jammu recently.

 

Background:

• Recently unmanned aerial vehicles are suspected to have dropped and detonated two explosive devices at the Jammu Air Force Station.
• An FIR under Sections 16,18, 23 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Section 3 of Explosive Substance Act and Sections 307, 120-B of the IPC has been lodged into the incident.
• Earlier, many incidents have been reported of drones from Pakistan dropping munitions, rifles and other essentials to support terror activities. 
• After the drone attack on Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Eastern Saudi Arabia in September 2019, the armed forces held deliberations on the issue and put in place plans to procure counter-drone capabilities.

 

More in the news:

• Attacking inside an Air Force base with drones is certainly an escalation — in terms of targeting Indian military assets, capability of achieving moderate accuracy and capability to launch offensive missions using drones.
• The act could well be an attempt by Pakistan to disturb the political process to bring in stability and peace in the region.
• For nearly a decade, the Indian military, security forces and the DRDO have been working on UAV/drone technology and the means of engaging drones.
• We are aware that special lightweight munitions are being developed for use by helicopter/UAV/drone operations that can have penetration capabilities.
• Such munitions would be more expensive than the cost of UAVs.

 

Drone

• Drone is a layman terminology for Unmanned Aircraft (UA). There are three subsets of Unmanned Aircraft- Remotely Piloted Aircraft,  Autonomous Aircraft and Model Aircraft.
• Remotely Piloted Aircraft consists of remote pilot station(s), the required command and control links and any other components, as specified in the type design

Remotely piloted aircraft have been divided into five categories-

1. Nano : Less than or equal to 250 grams.
2. Micro : From 250 grams to 2kg.
3. Small : From 2 kg to 25kg.
4. Medium : From 25kg to 150kg.
5. Large : Greater than 150k

• All civilian drone operations will be restricted to only during day time and a maximum of 400 feet altitude.
• There can’t be any human or animal payloads, or anything hazardous.
• It cannot in any manner cause danger to people or property and insurance will be mandatory to cover third-party damage.
• Except nano drones and those owned by National Technical Research Organisation and the central agencies, the rest would be registered and issued Unique Identification Number.

 

Applications:

• Agriculture- Gather data and automate redundant processes to maximize efficiency, to spray medicines, In a process of planting by distributing seed on the land, etc.
• Healthcare- Delivering quick access to drugs, blood, and medical technology in remote areas, transportation of harvested organs to recipients (through drones corridor), etc.

• Disaster Management- Surveillance of disaster-affected areas to assess damage, locate victims, and deliver aid.
• Urban Planning- Instant mapping and survey of the land which has to be developed avoiding congestion and increasing green cover. E.g.: Recently, the Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation (GCMC) became first Municipal Corporation to map Chennai using drones.
• Conservation of Endangered Species- Monitor and track the number of animals.
• Weather Forecasting- Drones can physically follow weather patterns as they develop to understand the environment and imminent weather trends in a better way.
• Waste Management- Identify where the garbage is so that it can be picked up the garbage picking vans. Drones can be used to clean ocean waste as well. UAV like Roomba by RanMarine operates at the vanguard of these initiatives and have helped to clean oceans in past.
• Mining- Drones in mining can be used in volumetric data capturing of ore, rock and minerals storage which is extremely difficult to measure manually.

 

 

Comparison between Drones and UAV:

• The drone is typically a“Quad-Copter”having four propellers fitted vertically. Thesecan hover and are highly manoeuvrable.
• UAVs, on the other hand, typically have the structure of an aeroplane with wings and fuselage. They do not hover. 
• Additionally,drones are difficult to detect.They are made of composite plastics and fabric and are not easily detectable by radars. Besidesthey fly ultra-low, below a 100ft.
• UAVs are made up of Aviation metals that can be easily detected in radar until it is not having stealth technology or operating very high in the sky.
• Drones can beused for reconnaissance, observation,as well as to carry smallpayloads, including mail and parcels.
• Drones can bepre-programmed to reach a target area to hover or deliver or be flown by a remote pilot. Winds and weather affect the flight of drones.

 

How to counter drone threats?

• Several private defence contractors, over the years, have begun to offer off-the-shelf anti-drone tech to counter hostile Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), popularly known as drones.
• Companies, predominantly based out of Israel, US, and even China, have developed anti-drone systems using existing technologies such as radars, frequency jammers, optic and thermal sensors etc.

 

How do these systems stand apart?

• It comes down to the range and the manner in which the threat is assessed and neutralised.
• Some systems simply monitor and alert the presence of a drone, while others are equipped with ballistics and even lasers.

 

Existing anti-drone systems:

• Rafael, the defence company behind Israel’s famed Iron Dome missile system, has also developed something called the Drone Dome. 
• Like the Iron Dome, which identifies and intercepts incoming missiles, the Drone Dome detects and intercepts drones.
• Besides the collection of static radars, radio frequency sensors, and cameras it uses to offer “a 360-degree coverage”. 
• The Drone Dome is also capable of jamming the commands being sent to a hostile drone and blocking visuals, if any, that are being transmitted back to the drone operator. 
• US-based Fortem Technologies also operates in a similar fashion but uses an interceptor drone (aptly called the ‘DroneHunter’).
• It pursues and captures hostile drones. The DroneHunter fires from its NetGun a spider web-shaped net to capture targets midair and tow them.
• Besides the regular detection and surveillance, DroneShield, an Australian publicly listed company, also offers a portable solution in the form of a drone gun that can be used to point and ‘shoot’. 
• The company’s DroneGun Tactical and DroneGun MKIII engage in radio frequency disruption that will disrupt the hostile drone’s video feed and force it to land on the spot or return to the operator.

 

Current Drone rules in India:

• Current guidelines, brought out by the civil aviation ministry, came as a result of a committee chaired by the Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and comprising: 
  • Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), 
  • Intelligence Bureau, 
  • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), 
  • The Airports Authority of India, 
  • Central Industrial Security Force and 
  • The National Security Guard.
• The committee’s report stated that in the military domain, small drones have been proliferating at a rate that has alarmed battlefield commanders and planners alike.
• 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.
• The guidelines had suggested a number of measures to counter rogue drones depending on the vitality of assets being protected.
• For places of critical national importance, the rules called for: 
• Deployment of a model that consists of primary and passive detection means like radar, radio frequency (RF) detectors, electro-optical and infrared cameras.
• In addition to this, soft kill and hard kill measures like RF jammers, GPS spoofers, lasers, and drone catching nets were also suggested to be installed.
• Further, to ensure that a coordinated approach is taken in deploying counter rogue drone measures, the report suggested setting up of a steering committee chaired by a representative of the Indian Air Force and comprising representatives from: 
  • NSG, 
  • Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), 
  • State police departments, 
  • DGCA, 
  • AAI, 
  • National Technical Research Organisation, 
  • IB and 
  • DRDO.
• Besides the measures laid down to deal with rogue drones, the DGCA already has regulations in place for civilian drone operations.
• These include mandating the no-permission, no-takeoff (NPNT) regulations for drones that prescribe a built-in firewall, which prevents drones without the necessary permissions from taking off.

 

DRDO’s Anti drone technology:

• It can bring down micro drones through either jamming of command and control links or by damaging electronics of drones through laser based directed energy weapons.
• It can detect and jam micro drones at a distance upto 3 kms, and laser target up to 1.25 kms (depending on the wattage of laser weapons).
• It can attack the speed of light.

 

Current rules for unmanned flights in India:

• Currently, the Union home ministry has a ‘No Permission-No Take Off’ (NPNT) policy for drones in place.
• According to the DGCA, NPNT compliance enables every remotely piloted aircraft to obtain valid permission through the Digital Sky Platform before operating in India. 
• The civil aviation ministry can grant conditional exemptions to conduct BVLOS.