In six months, a completely indigenous anti-drone system would be erected across the nation’s western border to prevent elements in Pakistan from using drones to smuggle weapons and drugs into India, especially into Punjab. According to a senior government official, three possibilities are being explored as part of the ongoing anti-drone technology experiments. “The anti-drone system to be put in place across the entire western border will either be one of the three systems or a combination of two or more technologies,” the official stated.

In six months, a completely DESI anti-drone system would be erected across the nation’s western border to prevent elements in Pakistan from using drones to smuggle weapons and drugs into India, especially into Punjab.

According to a senior government official, three possibilities are being explored as part of the ongoing anti-drone technology experiments. “The anti-drone system to be put in place across the entire western border will either be one of the three systems or a combination of two or more technologies,” the official stated.

The official stated that to stop the flood of undocumented migrants, the free movement rule (FMR) between India and Myanmar would soon be terminated on the eastern border.

Tribes residing on both sides of the India-Myanmar border are granted visa-free travel up to 16 km within the bordering nation under FMR. However, the government is planning to end the arrangement and require a visa for entry for Myanmar nationals entering through the land border as part of a rethink after the ethnic violence in Manipur was partially attributed to FMR’s facilitation of illegal immigration and the trafficking of weapons and drugs.

For a number of years, security forces have faced a significant challenge due to the dropping of weapons, ammunition, and drugs into Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan via drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Nine drones were found in Rajasthan and 81 in Punjab, according to information previously provided to TOI by BSF DG Nitin Agrawal. The drones were retrieved by the force between November 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023.

According to BSF sources, there have been 300–400 drone sightings in the last year. However, an officer stated that smugglers shipping narcotics consignments from Pakistan are finding it more difficult to elude BSF these days due to increased observation using handheld static and vehicle-mounted anti-drone devices.

They are compelled to alter their strategies; for example, they were obliged to stop using the Rajasthan route in the face of Punjabi surveillance when four consignments were seized in Rajasthan due to an intelligence leak.

Even though the drone smugglers attempted to launch them from a height, BSF surveillance systems were updated to detect and intercept them.

According to a source, traffickers have been using smaller drones lately that can carry a lighter payload—roughly 750 grams. The majority of drones that are flown out of Pakistan are Chinese-made since they are more readily available and less expensive than drones made in Turkey or Iran.

SOURCE: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/desi-anti-drone-system-to-be-installed-along-pakistan-border-in-6-months/articleshow/106495305.cms?from=mdr