According to information published by the Indian Defence Research Wing website, the Indian Air Force has installed advanced counter-drone systems to provide 360° protection for airbases in India.
Featuring both soft- and hard-kill capabilities, the systems can jam, spoof and disrupt drone communications and navigation signals, and/or deploy laser and high-powered microwave weapons to disable them remotely, according to Air Commodore Shekhar Yadav, Air Officer Commanding Air Force Station Pune.
Although precise details have not yet been published, this appears initially to be a follow-on contract to that won by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) – with support from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) – to supply counter-drone systems to the Indian Navy. If so, the award reflects two imperatives currently governing much of Indian government procurement: plugging long-standing capability gaps; and fostering indigenous development and manufacture of advanced systems. At the time of announcing the contract for the Naval Anti-Drone System (NADS) in August 2021, government officials indicated that both the Indian Air Force and the Army would be signing similar contracts.
Developed by DRDO and manufactured by BEL, NADS is the first indigenously-produced advanced ant-drone systems for naval service in India. According to official sources, the system has already been successfully deployed in a protective capacity for several government and public events.
For more information: https://idrw.org
(Image: NADS is available in both static and mobile configurations. Credit: Press Information Bureau of the Government of India)
