Pakistani drones in sky, BSF shooting from ground – Times of India

Amritsar: More sightings of Pakistani drones have forced the Border Security Force (BSF) and the border range police to step up vigil ahead of Independence Day. But ground fire won’t do. Shooting down enemy UAVs in the Indian skies will require smart border technology.
This year, there were two dozen drone intrusions from Pakistan in the Gurdaspur sector alone, claims BSF deputy inspector general Prabhakar Joshi. The intrusions were also reported from the Amritsar and Ferozpur sectors. Sources said the BSF had fired flares at the enemy drones and forced Pakistan to recall those. However, a few drones had succeeded in dropping arms and contraband items.
Police, which are the second line of defence, have strengthened themselves to deal with the potential aeiral threat in case the enemy UAVs enter deep inside the Indian territory. Punjab Police inspector general (border range) Mohnish Chawla said: “The border range cops keep an eye on the skies, too, and even though the frequency of these incidents is worrisome, we are capable of shooting down the enemy drones.”
Sources, however, claimed that police were yet to get the technology for identifying the enemy drones or neutralising those midair. It is dependent on traditional method of ground fire. Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is suspected to be using using drones extensively to push arms, ammunition, and drugs into India. “With each sortie, the Pakinstani drone pilots gain more experience and their observation of the Indian posts improves,” said a source.
The BSF spots the enemy drones using sound, binoculars, naked eye, or blinking lights, while anti-drone technology will help it spot a drone from 5 kilometres far and take preventive measures. Accepting that the drone intrusion had increased, BSF inspector general (Punjab frontier) Asif Jalal said: “We are installing anti-drone technology along the international border but to cover the entire 553 kilometers, we requrie more than 100 systems.”
A senior source in the BSF claimed that the Indian anti-drone technology was of older generation that than the US system that was capable of shooting down enemy’s UAV mid-air using another drone.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/pakistani-drones-in-sky-bsf-shooting-from-ground/articleshow/93260228.cms

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