Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Monday indicated that India has acquired indigenous drones capable of striking targets deep inside enemy territory. He was speaking at the North Tech Symposium in Jammu.
Replying to a question whether India will ever be using drones to hit terror camps across the border, like the US, he said “I wish you go around this particular exhibition more closely and you will find systems which can target with loitering ammunition having a range of 100 -150 kms”.
“If you ask them (manufacturers), (they will say) the people have procured them. The people have not procured them for only target practice, they are to be used operationally,’’ the Chief of Defence Staff said. “And all what you see here, some of it you will find as part of our inventory at some particular time,” he added.
To another question about the threat of drones from Pakistan, he said that in the recently conducted G20 summit in Delhi, a large number of anti-drone systems were installed at the summit venue and the airport by Army, Air Force and the Navy. “Those systems were actually picked up from official places like air bases and the borders,” he said, adding that the armed forces are aware of this (drone) problem and they have procured these equipment in sufficient quantity to meet the immediate requirement.
“They have been successfully tested also,” he said hinting at the successful conduct of the G20 summit.
Earlier, talking to media persons, Northern Army Commander Lt General Upendra Dwivedi said that “we have already inducted a lot of equipment as part of counter drone technology”.
“However, as drones technology keeps evolving, we too have to enhance our counter drone systems, he said, adding that the people who have come here have brought with them the latest technology which will enhance our ability.
Since May 2022 when the last North Tech Symposium was held in Udhampur, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern Command said that they have procured 256 equipment. The Army identify which every equipment comes at the exhibition, improvises productivity and directly inducts it,” he added.
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The symposium, jointly organized by the Northern Command, SIDM and IIT Jammu, displayed cutting-edge military technologies by Indian defence firms.
“With active participation from nearly 180 Indian defence companies including MSMWs, DRDO, DPSU, Simulator Development Division etc., this interactive platform for knowledge diffusion through joint Army-Industry partition is also aimed at propelling the government initiative of “Make in India”, an official statement here said.
The exhibition showcased cutting edge technologies and innovative products providing solutions to some of the complex challenges faced by the security forces in the Northern Command and also acted as an ideal platform for mutual exchanges of ideas between the Indian defence industry and the Army. The technologies and products on display covered a wide canvas, the prominent being, surveillance and situational awareness, tactical mobility, firepower, soldier/ force protection, communications, combat medical facility, robotics, simulators and training aids among others, the statement added.
