{"id":37851,"date":"2025-02-22T19:20:31","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T13:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=37851"},"modified":"2025-04-01T16:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T10:38:12","slug":"army-strengthen-air-defence-amid-drones-and-security-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/22-02-2025\/army-strengthen-air-defence-amid-drones-and-security-threats","title":{"rendered":"Army to Strengthen its Air Defence Amid Drones and Security Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Defence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Indian Army is moving to strengthen its <strong>air defence as evolving aerial threats<\/strong>, including drones and low-flying aircraft, challenge traditional defence systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A contract for the indigenously developed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-02-2023\/quick-reaction-surface-to-air-missile-system-qrsam\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-02-2023\/quick-reaction-surface-to-air-missile-system-qrsam\"><strong>Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system<\/strong><\/a> is expected to be concluded within 4-5 months.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>QRSAM, developed by DRDO<\/strong>, has a range of 30 km and is a priority for the Army.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>Akash SAM<\/strong> has three regiments in service, and two regiments of the <strong>Akash-NG <\/strong>have been contracted, with enhanced prototypes expected for trials in 45 days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The rise in drone usage, especially in the Ukraine war, is challenging air defence quantification and quality of threats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Drones<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Drones, also known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/drones-and-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-uav\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/drones-and-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-uav\/\"><strong>unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)<\/strong><\/a>, are aircraft that are operated without a human pilot onboard.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They come in various sizes and are used for a wide range of applications, from military to civilian purposes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Military Applications:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Surveillance and Reconnaissance: <\/strong>Drones are widely used for gathering intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) without putting human pilots at risk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Targeted Strikes: <\/strong>Larger military drones, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, can carry missiles or bombs and conduct airstrikes on enemy targets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Real-time Intelligence: <\/strong>Advanced sensors provide live battlefield data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Psychological Warfare:<\/strong> Persistent UAV presence creates fear and deterrence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Logistics and Resupply: <\/strong>Drones can deliver supplies to troops in remote or difficult-to-access locations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Law Enforcement: <\/strong>Assist in crowd monitoring, surveillance, and rescue ops.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Precision Strikes:<\/strong> Laser-guided missiles ensure surgical hits, minimizing collateral damage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need to Strengthen Aerial Defence<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Used by adversaries: <\/strong>India has faced instances where drones were used to drop weapons or conduct surveillance along its borders.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Drones have been used to infiltrate Indian airspace, especially near critical installations, military bases, and borders, raising concerns about their potential to carry out strikes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Enhanced warfare tactics:<\/strong> Drones ability to carry loitering munitions, conduct surveillance, and disrupt enemy operations presents new challenges for air defence systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Surveillance concerns: <\/strong>Drones are also increasingly being used for civilian purposes, such as delivery services or surveillance. However, their misuse for espionage, smuggling, or disrupting public events has raised security concerns.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Efforts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Air defence upgrades: <\/strong>India\u2019s air defence systems are being modernized to address drone threats, with the introduction of smart ammunition, counter-drone systems, and new anti-aircraft guns.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Efforts are underway to induct advanced systems like the Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) and smart ammunition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technological advancements:<\/strong> India is developing counter-drone systems to detect, track, and neutralize threats from drones.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulation:<\/strong> Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for drones, to control their use in the civilian sector.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The new Drone (Amendment) Rules 2023 for drone pilots, effective from the 27th of September 2023.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The move aims to further liberalise, promote and facilitate drone operations across the country and make India a global drone hub by 2030.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Indigenous technology: <\/strong>India\u2019s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and other agencies are working on developing homegrown technologies to address the emerging drone threat.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This includes advanced radar systems, anti-drone weapons, and missile systems designed to counter UAVs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Drones are versatile and powerful tools used across various sectors.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Their growing role in both military and civilian fields has revolutionized industries, but it also presents new challenges, especially in terms of regulation and security.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/with-drone-threat-air-defence-guns-back-in-fashion-fragmentation-ammunition-key\/article69247889.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Indian Army is moving to strengthen its air defence as evolving aerial threats, including drones and low-flying aircraft, challenge traditional defence systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37851"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40125,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37851\/revisions\/40125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}