Army outlines its operational philosophy for deploying counter-drone systems

About a fortnight after Indian air defence networks played a crucial role in neutralising Pakistani drones and missiles during ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Army has outlined its operational philosophy for the deployment of ground-based Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) to deal with such threats.

“A ground-based C-UAS is designed to detect, track and neutralise hostile drones in real time and it ensures protection against aerial threats during tactical operations and critical infrastructure defence. Equipped with advanced sensors and mitigation technology, this system enhances battlefield survivability and operational security,” a request for information (RFI) issued by the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday for procurement of such equipment states.

Elaborating upon the operational philosophy, the RFI states that a ground-based C-UAS is an advanced, integrated defence solution designed to detect, track, identify and neutralise hostile drones operating within a designated airspace.

Utilising a combination of radar, radio-frequency detection, electro-optical and infrared sensors and artificial intelligence, the system can classify targets as friendly, adversary or unidentified while displaying them on a handheld operator screen with distinct colour codes.

Once a non-friendly drone is identified, the C-UAS can engage through soft-kill, that is radio frequency jamming or spoofing up to 3 km, or a hard-kill measures, that is the use of remote-controlled weapons, lasers, projectiles or swarm drones which physically destroy the platform, up to 5 kilometres.

The remote-controlled weapons ensure precise target elimination, while autonomous swarm drones can conduct high-speed interceptions carrying removable explosive payloads.

A threat library stores up to 1,000 drone profiles allowing continuous software upgrades for evolving threats. Fully operable by a single user from a ground control station, the system supports simultaneous engagement of multiple targets with an intuitive manual override function for operational flexibility, the RFI states.

The Army wants U-CAS that are able to detect radio frequencies in the bandwidth of 100-8,000 megahertz, with the ability to detect micro, mini and small drones at a distance of at least 3 km, 5 km and 8 km, respectively, by using radar and radio frequency, and at a distance of 1,200 metres to 3,000 metres using electro-optical and infrared sensors. These systems should be able to track 25 targets simultaneously.