NEW DELHI: A small tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Indian Army inadvertently strayed across the Line of Control with Pakistan in the Bhimber Gali sector of the Poonch district in J&K on Friday morning.
The Army has sent a message to the Pakistan Army over the hotline between the directors-general of military operations to return the “mini drone”, which sources identified as a `Switch’ fixed-wing VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) UAV deployed by infantry battalions for surveillance operations.There were, however, some reports that the drone had been shot down by Pakistani forces.
An Indian officer said, “The drone was on a training mission well within Indian territory when its control was lost due to technical malfunction at 9.25 am. The drone then drifted into the Nikial sector of Pakistan-occupied J&K opposite our Bhimber Gali sector.”
Both India and Pakistan regularly deploy small and large UAVs for surveillance along the 778-km long LoC, as is also the practice along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control with China. Pakistan for the last several years has also been using small drones to courier weapons, explosives and drugs to Punjab and J&K from across the border.
The Army’s Aviation Corps operates larger UAVs, like the Israeli-origin Herons for long-range surveillance and precision-targeting, while the smaller drones are deployed by infantry battalions for tactical reconnaissance.
The Army has inducted a large number of the `Switch’ UAVs, each of which weighs around 6.5-kg and can take off without a runway, manufactured by Mumbai-based drone manufacturer ideaForge Technology.
With the Switch drones capable of being used even in high-altitude areas like Ladakh, the first such Rs 140 crore deal was inked in 2021, as was reported by TOI.
With the sheer operational utility of drones being reinforced by the Armenia-Azerbaijan and Russia-Ukraine conflicts, the armed forces have since then gone in for procurement of a wide array of UAVs. These range from nano, mini and micro drones to kamikaze, logistics, armed swarms and fighter-size MALE (medium-altitude, long-endurance) and HALE (high-altitude, long-endurance) UAVs.
The Army has sent a message to the Pakistan Army over the hotline between the directors-general of military operations to return the “mini drone”, which sources identified as a `Switch’ fixed-wing VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) UAV deployed by infantry battalions for surveillance operations.There were, however, some reports that the drone had been shot down by Pakistani forces.
An Indian officer said, “The drone was on a training mission well within Indian territory when its control was lost due to technical malfunction at 9.25 am. The drone then drifted into the Nikial sector of Pakistan-occupied J&K opposite our Bhimber Gali sector.”
Both India and Pakistan regularly deploy small and large UAVs for surveillance along the 778-km long LoC, as is also the practice along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control with China. Pakistan for the last several years has also been using small drones to courier weapons, explosives and drugs to Punjab and J&K from across the border.
The Army’s Aviation Corps operates larger UAVs, like the Israeli-origin Herons for long-range surveillance and precision-targeting, while the smaller drones are deployed by infantry battalions for tactical reconnaissance.
The Army has inducted a large number of the `Switch’ UAVs, each of which weighs around 6.5-kg and can take off without a runway, manufactured by Mumbai-based drone manufacturer ideaForge Technology.
With the Switch drones capable of being used even in high-altitude areas like Ladakh, the first such Rs 140 crore deal was inked in 2021, as was reported by TOI.
With the sheer operational utility of drones being reinforced by the Armenia-Azerbaijan and Russia-Ukraine conflicts, the armed forces have since then gone in for procurement of a wide array of UAVs. These range from nano, mini and micro drones to kamikaze, logistics, armed swarms and fighter-size MALE (medium-altitude, long-endurance) and HALE (high-altitude, long-endurance) UAVs.
Source Agencies
