No longer are smart ammunition, lasers, and microwave weapons the stuff of science fiction movies; they are already here and look like they are here to stay.
With modern warfare rapidly changing with the dizzyingly fast proliferation of drones and unmanned aerial systems (UAS), the need to both operate and counter them is assuming unprecedented importance. In earnest, the Indian Army’s Corps of Army Air Defence (AAD) formation is looking to equip itself with these new age weapons.
The AAD is basically mandated with the Tactical Battle Area (TBA) while the Indian Air Force operates in the much wider expanse.
From the point of view of the Indian military establishment, certain events have resulted in a compelling urgency to infuse next-generation weaponry. Some of these events are the September 14, 2019 drone attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Aramco refineries, the precision-killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020, and closer home, the June 26-27, 2021 drone attacks on the Jammu IAF base. The Armenia-Azerbaijan and the Russia-Ukraine conflicts have only fortified the belief that UAS have indeed changed the face of modern warfare.
Speaking to a group of journalists on India’s state of preparedness against this unmanned aerial threat, on Friday, Lieutenant General Sumeer D’Cunha, who heads the AAD, said, “Emphasis is on to develop and induct hybrid systems with a combination of soft and hard kill systems including Directed Energy Weapons (DEW).”
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Stating that the AAD has recently inducted the Integrated Drone Detection & Interdiction System (IDD&IS) into service which constitutes a hybrid system with multispectral detection, Gen D’Cunha said it includes electro-optical/infra-red and passive detector and Directed Energy Weapons (DEWS) like lasers (DEW) for interdiction.
“This was emergency procurement with lasers of 1 km. The Request for Proposal for nine more systems is out. We are now looking at capabilities to jam complete band of frequencies with enhanced ranges of detection and interdiction to include lasers.”
The AAD director general underlined the effectiveness of fragmentation ammunition in countering UAS threats saying the RFI (request for information) for the indigenous fragmentation ammunition is out to the industry.
Making a case for smart ammunition, the DG said, “Every round can be programmed in smart ammunition, with 17 rounds of HE (high explosive) can be roughly equated to 1 round of smart, it increases kill probability and reduces logistics... we have taken out an RFI for fragmented ammunition for this also... fragmentation ammunition is the way forward.”
These new age weapons are being developed or inducted alongside the ongoing effort to procure new guns and new integrated air defence systems like Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) and man-portable, short-range air defence systems like VSHORADS (Very Short-Range Air Defence system).
But in these efforts, the remarkable feature is to develop these platforms and systems indigenously in alignment with the ‘Atmanirbharta’ programme.
