Indigenous Device All Set To Track-And-Kill Enemy Drones

Jun 7, 2018

• A working prototype of India’s first indigenous technology to search, track and kill enemy drones is ready in Bengaluru.
• The portable prototype uses a radar, and electro-optical and electromagnetic sensors.
• Bringing down a drone using fire power isn’t an option as it can be launched even in cities or densely populated areas.

BENGALURU: A working prototype of India’s first indigenous technology to search, track and kill enemy drones is ready in Bengaluru.

With an ever-increasing threat perception — in 2015, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) issued alerts of drone attacks in Delhi and in 2016, the IAF Southern Command had reports of drone and other types of attacks by aerial vehicles — drone attacks cannot be ruled out.

Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), which has the prototype, is now in talks with user agencies for demonstrations even though no request for proposal (RFP) or request for interest (RFI) has been floated.

At Kalghatgi, former BEL director (R&D), who retired last week, told TOI that BEL has approached user agencies and the first field demo could happen within two months.

While the first potential users of this ground-based system that can be deployed at airstrips, border areas and hilly regions could be the armed forces, it could also be deployed in airports and strategic places like the Parliament. The portable prototype uses a radar, and electro-optical and electromagnetic sensors. “Since it’s a prototype, we developed a low-range product that works in the range of 3-5km. But we can change the radar and increase the range depending on user requirements,” Kalghatgi said.

Source: TOI