Army Chief Expresses Concern Over Easy Availability Of Drones, Says It ‘Increased Complexity Of Challenges’

“We will have to factor it in our future planning…Steps are being taken to counter the drone threat,” he added.

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New Delhi: Asserting that the easy availability of drones allowed both state and non-state actors to use them, Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Thursday said this increased the complexity of challenges faced by the security forces.

Stating building drones was akin to a “DIY project that could be tackled at home”, General Naravane said, adding that the “drones will increasingly be used in all sorts of combat in future by state and non-state actors”.

“We will have to factor it in our future planning…Steps are being taken to counter the drone threat,” he added.

The Chief of Army Staff said the armed forces are “developing the capability to deal with this threat in both kinetic and non-kinetic realms”.

“Troops have also been sensitised to the evolving threat...We are focusing on the offensive use of drones as well as using counter-drone technology to tackle the threat,” he added.

General Naravane’s remarks came days after the drone attack on the Jammu Indian Air Force (IAF) Station on June 27.

Earlier on Wednesday, Lieutenant General D.P. Pandey, Corps Commander of the 15 Corps in Srinagar, said the technology used in the aerial attack in Jammu indicated “state support and the possible involvement of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba terror groups”.

He added that there appeared to be an “element of guidance from state actors” to modify the drones for aerial attacks.

The Indian Army and the IAF have post the Jammu attack stepped up security and activated countermeasures at their forward bases to pre-empt such aerial attacks.