Deploying anti-drone solutions in difficult terrains require special expertise. Is India prepared?

August 4: In the last decade, there has been considerable technological advancement in the software and hardware industries. Subsequently, the reach of various refrained technological products such as drones is now easily accessible in the market. The wide-scale usage of drones has become demanding for both legal and security agencies to avoid and counter the misuse of drone technology.

The need for strong legal regulations within the country has been placed with every passing day. However, the risk of deadly attacks still looms over the country.

Past few deadly terror attacks like 26/11, LTTE attack on Kattunaike airfield and post-Balakot and most importantly, the drone attack on Air Force Station Jammu in June last year have certainly hinted that the extremist elements both cross-border and within the country are moving towards new tactics of challenging the confidence of our security forces.

Going by the past attacks, we can conclude that any place of importance in context to the strategic importance or heritage of the country and its ideology would be on the radar of the terrorist groups. The most effective way to target those could be drones to which IDEs are attached.

We will all agree that there is a need to increase the safety and security of highly sensitive places. We need extensive, effective anti-drone coverage to strengthen the security of such locations.

Public events of importance such as the Amarnath Yatra and historical places are most vulnerable to such threats. Constant monitoring is required with preparedness to prevent and counter the possibility of a drone attack. As per recent reports, government officials mentioned that they would be deployed in Jammu and Kashmir anti-drone technology to make travel safer for the common people.

"Threat of IED attacks has always been there. For that, we have decided that the entire route in both the Pahalgam and Baltal axis for the yatra will be sanitized to ensure there are no IEDs on the roads. However, sticky bombs which can be surreptitiously attached to a vehicle are a new threat this year. Drills are being prepared to guard against it," a central security force officer said.

The Security forces are trying to adopt anti-drone technologies in their existing security systems. But, since it is a new technology, it may not be easy to decide on the best product in terms of quality and effectiveness.

Various technical challenges like testing the site to understand the optimal angle for setting up the solution to give the maximum coverage. In border regions, it becomes even more difficult due to the possibility of the presence of the clashing neighbouring country's networks.

A few companies, like ACSG Corp, have a history of serving the critical infrastructure protection sector for more than a decade. These companies understand the peculiar needs of our security system and are adept at deploying anti-drone solutions even in difficult terrains.

India-based ACSG corporation has designed an ingenious technique based on the needs and requirements of Indian security forces. The technology uses a radar system that can detect a drone flying at a distance of 3km and neutralize the same before it comes closer to critical infrastructures. Thus eliminating the threat even before it reaches within attacking distance of its target. The company's onsite support system also solves the maintenance problem.

"The technology developed by the company is so versatile that it can be easily integrated with the current security systems currently used. The wide coverage of overall security measures enables to monitor all possible threats." Major Vijay, President at ACSG Corp.

ACSG has a 360-degree solution to monitoring a potential threat and implementing a counter-threat strategy. The solution offered by ACSG has customization possibilities; thus, this technology can be deployed at various locations ranging from air force bases to high-altitude places.

With better anti-drone technology, we will eliminate the threats to critical infrastructure security and the country's people at its very origin. This will allow our Security forces to focus more on other key security areas, thus, bringing down the reaction time.