Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir appears to be becoming the hotbed of terrorism. A few days back, five Indian Army soldiers were martyred after terrorists attacked an army truck in Kathua district.
This was preceded by an encounter where two Indian soldiers, including an elite paratrooper, were killed. The Indian army eliminated six terrorists in the operations in the Kulgam district of the Kashmir region.
On June 26, three terrorists were eliminated during a clash with Indian forces in the Gandoh region of Doda district in Jammu. On June 9, terrorists attacked a bus carrying pilgrims, resulting in the death of at least 10 people in the Reasi district of the Jammu region.
In June 2021, in a first-of-its-kind attack in India, low-flying drones dropped IEDs on the Jammu Air Force station. What could be alarming for Indian security forces is the possible use of drones in future terror attacks.
The strategy of using drones for cross-border intrusions has gradually increased. In the last three years, drone sightings across the international border have expanded dramatically.
A few days back, Indian soldiers fired several rounds to shoot down a Pakistani drone along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The drone, however, returned to Pakistan after briefly hovering over Indian territory.
India’s Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) with Pakistan are well-fenced, surveyed, and manned. Yet Pakistani state and non-state players are upping the ante and using technology to smuggle illegal arms, ammunition, drugs, currency, propaganda pamphlets, and other items to their supporters and operatives.
Drones are cheap and available commercially off-the-shelf and have replaced human smugglers and even terrorists in some cases, as was the case in the Jammu airfield attack a few years ago. India needs to be prepared for next-gen terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and info warfare in Punjab and neighboring states.
The US has been extensively using drone strikes against targets as part of the ‘War on Terror.’ Drones have even been used for assassination. Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda leader, was killed in a US drone strike in early August 2022. On January 3, 2020, Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general, was killed by a US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport.
A significant terror plot by Pakistan’s ISI was averted by the Special Operations Group (SOG) and Jammu police after they recovered a consignment of arms and ammunition dropped by a Pakistani drone along the IB in the RS Pura Sector in Jammu district in February 2022. The future is unmanned on many counts, including use for terrorism.
An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) can carry ordnance such as rockets, missiles, and bombs. Small bomb-laden drones can make a Kamikaze attack.
Till recently, most drones were usually under real-time human control. However, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology now supports more significant flight and decision-making autonomy levels.
Jammu Airfield Attack
Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) made a drone attack on IAF’s Jammu airbase on June 27, 2021. This was the first reported use of drones to attack military facilities in India.
There were twin blasts, five minutes apart, around 1:35 a.m. The first drone dropped a bomb that damaged a building when it went through the roof, while the second exploded on the open tarmac at a little distance from a parked helicopter.
There was no damage to any operational asset or loss of life. It was later understood that the target was Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower and parked IAF helicopters. The two Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) weighed five to six kilograms, with RDX as the main explosive charge. The drop was made through stored location coordinates.
The two drones had flown from across the border, a mere 14.5 kilometers away. Drones have continued to be used in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir sectors for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR). They are also used for smuggling drugs and small arms. The drones were assembled from Chinese-origin kits, which increased their deniability.
Drones, New Dimension To Border Security
For long unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been used for border surveillance and often through incursions into adversary’s territory. Drones are also used for intelligence gathering, especially for military and BSF installations near the border.
Drones are small and have low visual, noise, smoke, and infrared (IR) signatures. They can fly ultra-low or at high altitudes, making it difficult to detect, intercept and neutralize.
Most conventional air defense radars cannot detect them. A few dedicated bird detection avian radars at airports monitor bird activity within the airfield zone and near the approach and take-off path.
Such radars will pick up drones, but it is not affordable to position such radars across the entire border. Sensitive IR sensors are required in large numbers at a considerable cost to detect the heat signature of drones. Small size and nearly no smoke signature means late visual detection. Even the drone sound can be heard very late.
Drones could be autonomous or remotely controlled and, because these are sourced from the open market, enable deniability. Drones could travel a few 100 kilometers deep, carrying a significant quantity of contraband payload. The types of cargo captured from the downed drones included substantial amounts of heroin, opium, pistols and revolvers, ammunition, detonators, and other explosives. More recently, they have been bringing even currency.
Pakistani Drone Production Ecosystem
For years, Pakistan had been pushing the US to allow it to acquire the MQ-1 Predator, the primary UCAV system the US used as a strike platform. However, such requests were denied amid fear of technology proliferation.
Pakistan’s National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jointly began developing its own Burraq UCAV. The initial variants were for surveillance and intelligence gathering.
In 2015, they had the first UCAV variant. Pakistan borrowed ideas from the Chinese CASC Rainbow CH-3A UCAV and may have received assistance, too. The Shahpar II is a UCAV built by Global Industrial Defence Solutions of Pakistan. It is currently in production following the completion of a test and qualification phase. It reportedly can fire missiles at both stationary and moving targets.
Pakistan is working closely with Turkey on Bayraktar TB2, medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) drones for offensive and air defense use. They showcased these at the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) day event. Satellite images revealed the presence of one Bayraktar TB2 at PAF’s Murid Airbase. Pakistan has thus raced ahead of India in Indigenous MALE and UCAVs.
Pakistan also signed a contract with Turkey for the co-production of ANKA UCAVs and acquired CH-4 and Wing Long UCAVs from China. The Pakistan Navy already operates several UAVs, such as Scan Eagle and Uqab, for surveillance.
The SATUMA Jasoos II is another indigenous drone in the PAF inventory, fulfilling dual purposes of ISR and training. The Pakistan military has claimed to have eliminated three high-profile Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists using its indigenous Burraq combat drone during an operation in North Waziristan’s Shawal Valley.
Pakistan’s Drone Infiltration Mechanism
Pakistan is following an all-of-the-nation approach with many government agencies, the armed forces, and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) supporting the covert operations. Their border security force, Pakistani Rangers, has reportedly set up drone centers to help drone crossings by smugglers and terrorists to send arms and drugs into India.
Pakistan’s focus has been much higher in Ferozepur and Amritsar sectors. The BSF has seized about 1,150 kg of drugs at the Punjab border in the last three years. Also found on the intercepted drones were some AK series assault rifles, pistols, MP4 carbines, carbine magazines, high explosive grenades, as well as narcotics.
Pakistan’s Chinese Off-The-Shelf Drones
Most Pakistani drones are of Chinese origin. Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI), Shenzhen, is one of the major drone manufacturers, and several Chinese state-owned entities back it.
DJI manufactures commercial drones for aerial photography and videography. It accounts for around 70 percent of the world’s consumer drone market. The company’s products have also been used by militaries, police forces, and terrorist groups.
DJI drones have been extensively used in Ukraine. These drones can be of different sizes and have significant payload capacities. Some caught on the Indian border include the DJI Matrice 300 Quadcopter with RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) drone.
It can have a maximum take-off weight of nine kg, fly at 80 km/h, and have an endurance of 55 minutes on fully charged batteries. It can fly autonomously on pre-fed waypoints and transmit live mission recordings. It costs nearly INR 1,500,000.
The payload could be three to four kilograms. The operator in Pakistan could control the payload drop based on the drone’s video feed. Alternatively, it could fly autonomously. The US government has prohibited DJI products because the drone is known to transmit all data to parent organizations in China.
