Although there were no casualties or major damages, the drone attack during the wee hours on June 27 at Air Force Station Jammu which is completely different from conventional warfare strategies has brought concern for India’s defence establishment. Whosoever engineered this daring act must have done it only with the intention of testing India’s capability of countering such maneuvers and as many defence analysts are of the view, the scale of offence has thus been kept restricted. Encircled by enemies of the likes of Pakistan and China, who possess dedicated labs and manpower for inventing ways to overwhelm India, militarily or otherwise, the new consternation is how to safeguard the long international borders vis-à-vis this deadly strategy. Not only J&K or Punjab or Rajasthan, in the light of the development, it will be a rational assumption that the vulnerability of Arunachal Pradesh in particular and the Northeast in general will increase. A new terror weapon has arrived which can be neutralized only through an equal-to-the-task detection system.

While the needle of suspicion is towards Pakistan, there is growing belief among the defence think-tank that the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones have been built by China. Irrespective of the intention of the application, whether to destabilize the newly commenced political process in J&K or just as a continuation of the old policy of terrorism, the technology-based game plan where it’s much difficult to identify the point or place of launch can wreak havoc within the Indian territory, not just on fringes, but deep inside too, if preliminary studies are to be believed. It’s a matter of fact that the technologies based on which UAVs have come to the forefront of warfare tools have undergone a sea change and just like smartphones, their prices have fallen with a simultaneous and dramatic upgradation of almost all capabilities like payload, endurance and range, to name a few. It’s almost like nuclear science, if used for good purposes it can help in a countless number of ways, ranging from rescue of trapped miners or in solving a host of civic problems. No wonder, the hostile neighbours have now got a low-cost yet viable tool they were looking for and evading the radar and dropping a couple of kgs of RDX over intended locations will now be easier like never before. It must be remembered that in November last year, Pak-sent drones dropped caches of weapons and contrabands in Punjab that prompted its CM to write a letter to the Prime Minister that highlighted the “serious implications.” It seems that CM Amarinder Singh, a former Captain in the Indian Army was not wrong.

A major challenge has arrived before the Indian defence establishment. Among other things, revamping drone-detection capabilities has become an issue of paramount importance.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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