Unmanned aerial vehicle crashes in J&K, IAF orders probe

In April, a UAV of the IAF crashed in Odisha this morning during a trial. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) of Air Force crashed on Friday in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far.

A police team of Rajbagh police station and a team of Air Force personnel reached on the accident spot and seized the remains of UAV, which caught fire after the crash.

"The UAV crashed near Ladol village of Chadwal belt in the district. We were informed by IAF authorities that its UAV has lost contact with radar in Kathua belt. We immediately launched a search for it", Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Kathua, Mohd Suleman Choudhary told PTI. IAF and police teams are on the spot. An IAF team is probing the reason behind the crash,” he said. The IAF has ordered an inquiry into the crash.

In April, a UAV of the IAF had crashed in Odisha this morning during a trial. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

The aircraft called 'Lakshya' was being tested at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha's Balasore district and it crashed in an open ground near Chandamani at Baliapal. Lakshya is remotely operated from the ground to provide aerial targets for training and Air Defence.

What is Unmanned Aerial Vehicle?

An unmanned aerial vehicle is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS); which includes a UAV, a ground-based controller, and a system of communications between the two.

The flight of UAVs may operate with various degrees of autonomy: either under remote control by a human operator or autonomously by onboard computers.

(With agency inputs)