Drones

DRONES

A drone refers to an unpiloted aircraft or spacecraft.

Another term for it is an “unmanned aerial vehicle,” or UAV.

Componets of Drone

Unmanned aircraft (UA)

Control system (ground control station – GCS)

Control link (specilaized datalink)

Other related support equipment

Classification (As per Drone rules,2021)

Nano: <250 gm

Micro: 250 gm to 2 kg

Mini: 2 kg to 25 kg

Small: 25 kg to 150 kg

Large: >150 kg

Applications

• Defence: Drone system can be used as a symmetric weapon against terrorist attacks.

• Drones can be integrated into the national airspace system.

• Deployment of drones for combat, communication in remote areas, counter-drone solutions can be done.

• Healthcare Delivery Purposes: Recently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has approved a project with the Telangana government for using drone technology to deliver vaccines in remote areas.

• Agriculture: In the agriculture sector, micronutrients can be spread with the help of drones.

• It can also be used for performing surveys for identifying the challenges faced by the farmers.

• Monitoring: The drone technology in the SVAMITVA scheme launched by the Government of India, within less than a year, has helped about half a million village residents to get their property cards by mapping out the abadi areas.

• Drones can be used for real-time surveillance of assets and transmission lines,theft prevention, visual inspection/maintenance, construction planning and management, etc

• They can be used for anti-poaching actions, monitoring of forests and wildlife,pollution assessment, and evidence gathering.

• Law Enforcement: Drones are also significant for the

law enforcement agencies, the fire and emergency

services wherever human intervention is not safe and the healthcare services.

India’s Counter-Drone System

• Indrajaal (India’s inaugral autonomous drone-defense dome)

• Procurement of combat-capable Heron drones from Israel

• Acquisition of MQ-9B Armed Drones from the US

• Advanced technologies including autonomous takeoff and landing, a detect and avoid system, anti- spoofing GPS, and encrypted communication lines are all standard on MQ-9B drones.

Drone v Uav

• There is no difference between the terms drone and UAV; they have the same meaning. Both are aerial vehicles that, in the most sophisticated scenarios, can fly without human assistance. One such example is the fixed wing drone below, which gets its name from its stationary, straight side wings.

• An unmanned ship or aircraft that is piloted remotely or automatically is called a drone.

• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or UAV, is an aircraft that can

fly without a pilot.

Drone and National Security

• Undetectability: Radar is typically employed to identify aerial vehicles, like airplanes, by short-pulse radio frequency wave emission. However, because to their narrow radar cross-section (RCS), small drones, such nano drones, are challenging to detect.

• Sizes: Drones are small enough to be difficult to shoot down, even if they are detected. While taking down a drone with live transmission capability is pointless because the controller has already received the data.

• Identification of Origin: It is impossible to determine who sent a drone, even if it is found and rendered inoperable.

• Operational Flexibility: Compared to traditional espionage techniques, drones offer more cost, safety, and efficiency. Since drones are unmanned, there is no longer any chance that users could be harmed.

Green, Yellow and Red Zone

• Green zone is the airspace upto 400 feet that has not been designated as a red or yellow zone; and upto 200 feet above the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an operational airport.

• In green zones, no permission whatsoever is required for operating drones with an all-up weight upto 500 kg.

• Yellow zone is the airspace above 400 feet in a designated green zone; above 200 feet in the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an operational airport and above ground in the area located between 5-8 km from the perimeter of an operational airport.

• Drone operations in yellow zone require permission from the concerned air traffic control authority – AAI, IAF, Navy, HAL etc. as the case may be.

• Yellow zone has been reduced from 45 km earlier to 12 km from the airport perimeter.

• Red zone is the ‘no-drone zone’ within which drones can be operated only after a permission from the Central Government.

India’s Initiatives

• Digital Sky Platform

• No-Permission-No Takeoff (NPNT) framework

• PLI Scheme for Drones

• Drone Shakti initiatives

• Liberalized drone rules 2021

• i-Drone initiative

• Drone import policy

Issues

• Increased Risk of Armed Attacks: Drone operations without sufficient legal support might present a number of security risks.

• Incidents of arms being dropped by drones are also there such as the recent Jammu drone attacks.

• They can be put to destructive use, to slam into critical targets, destroy infrastructure and so on.

• Paramilitary Not Exempted from the Rules: The drone

rules 2021 are not applicable to the army, navy or the airforce.

• However, it still includes paramilitary forces. BSF is suffering a lot of issues due to the drones coming across the lines.

• Cheaper cost enables a larger population to procure drones: Drones are relatively cheaper in comparison to conventional weapons and yet can achieve far more destructive results which is the primary reason for increased number of drone attacks.

• Delivery of Mass destruction weapons: What makes combat drones most dangerous is the threat of them being used to deliver weapons of mass destruction.

• Procurement of combat drones by non-state actors poses serious threats.

Way Forward

• Three-step procedure for countering drone threats: This procedure entails finding, locating, and eliminating any drone threats that are in the air. Drones entering the nation illegally must be regarded as hostile. There should be drone policies, licenses, and regulations in place for all other drones.

• Investing in Anti-Drone Technology: When it comes to anti-drone technology, the Indian government needs to take the lead. One way to encourage stakeholders to concentrate on developing anti-drone technology is by providing a budget.

Priority Areas: Although preventing drone attacks throughout India is essential, it is not yet achievable. The government ought to designate locations of paramount significance, including air bases and VIP sections of cities, and concentrate on raising awareness and establishing drone defenses in these regions