Weaponized drones visiting Jammu airfield in the wee hours of 26/27 June 2021 and dropping a few kilograms of explosives, fortunately, did not result in any major damage to men or equipment, but it has woken up a nation from slumber.

We react only when an event takes place. Drones used by ‘non-state actors’ for anti-national activities are nothing new.

The use of drones in all fields has increased exponentially during the last decade, with subversive activities and silent strikes, in particular.

Status Of Drone Development

The US has used, as well as faced, weaponized drones extensively over the past three decades. Current drones are derived from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) concept.

UAVs are prohibitively expensive and require a huge ground control set up as a weapon, recce platform, and/or surveillance facility.

Micro miniaturization explosion has broken all technological barriers enabling ‘make at home/assemble at home’ drones to appear in the marketplace as toys.

In the initial years, the USA used ‘single-use’ drones extensively. The accuracy was not satisfactory because radio-controlled drones had three major limitations; firstly, even a momentary interruption in radio signal connectivity allowed the drone to wander off from the intended track. Secondly, it was prone to jamming, and thirdly and most importantly, a more powerful signal on the same frequency allowed someone else to take control of the drone.

With the Global Positioning System (GPS)…