If the tiny villages in the northwestern areas of Pakistan present a picture of pre-medieval life, that’s only one side of the story. The hamlets — and even towns — in Pakistan’s troubled stretches bordering Afghanistan are under the world’s scanner for another reason too. It’s one place where high-tech military activity is taking place.
For a while now, the rugged terrain of NWFP is not the only aspect of this region that has made its inhabitants, mainly Pashtuns, tough and durable. The men, women and children who live here have been hardened by its blood-soaked history. Of late, it is in these remote corners of the world that the US military is hunting
al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters and in the process — even more importantly — re-defining the way wars will be fought in the future.
Since 2008, the US Central Intelligence Agency has killed an estimated 500 people in air strikes launched from thousands of miles away to hit targets deep inside Pakistan. These “kills” were not “scored” by glamorous fighter pilots firing missiles and dropping bombs from fifth generation stealth combat jets.
The job has been done by weapon carrying drones, or the unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) in military parlance. Piloted from thousands of miles away, these remotely controlled aircraft almost literally spot, hunt and eliminate their targets. They accomplish complicated military missions without risking a
pilot’s life and cost much less.
In more than 50 drone missions launched so far, the growing kill-list has names of some of the big terror leaders, from Abu Laith al-Libi of al Qaeda to the most wanted head of Pakistan Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud who was eliminated on August 5 in one such raid when the missiles struck from nowhere in sky. While the US is fighting its war with the help of sophisticated pieces of machinery, the world is keeping close watch. The effectiveness of drones has been talked about, written and analysed by military experts all over the world.
Futuristic tech
A unanimous view is that the future belongs to this missile firing aircraft. So much so that it might eclipse the development of future manned combat jets. Most of the modern air forces in the world fly fourth general fighter jets which are known for their multi-role capabilities, making them suitable for air-to-air and air-to-ground roles.
This is the time in military aviation history when fifth generation fighters are knocking on the door. The US already operates F-22 Raptors and other countries are striving hard to catch up. India too is in the race to producing a fifth generation fighter with the help of Russia, known as PAK-FA. It could well be the last of the generations of combat jets as they might eventually share their work with unmanned combat aerial vehicles. Not many countries have been able to achieve what the US has done in the field of these remote controlled aircraft.
Drones have been in business for several years now. But they were mainly used for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition purposes. They were the spies in the skies playing a key role in planning military missions by guiding artillery and missile units in identifying targets. By giving it the capability to launch a missile, a drone has acquired new meaning in modern warfare. It is now a battle-tested technology. A rush has already begun to include drones in military strategies. The other countries of the world are in this race and so is India.
India in the queue
What was merely a concept till some years ago has now become a reality much before anyone had expected. As a result of this, India has been left far behind in developing this technology. The country has been one of the biggest buyers of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are extensively used by all three services. In the absence of any credible effort to make UAVs at home, it has to rely heavily on foreign vendors. Israel fulfills much of India’s requirements for UAVs.
The Defence Research and Development has been working on the Nishant UAV, which has an endurance of four and a half hours, for more than two decades now. Its longer endurance version Rustam is in the pipeline. But when it comes to producing an UCAV, India is an upstart. The defence scientific establishment has talked about producing a light combat aircraft (LCA) followed by a Medium Combat Aircraft and then a UCAV.
The future looks uncertain as even the LCA project is running several years behind schedule. The armed forces are convinced that India will have to develop UCAV at home as they will never be able to acquire the technology from foreign vendors. “Nobody is going to give us this technology, we need to develop it at home,” says former Indian Air Force chief Fali Homi Major. He describes the UCAVs as “a very very great force multiplier for national security environment and a developing technology”, adding that they have proved to be a very useful tool in Afghanistan.
Major strongly supports indigenous efforts to develop UCAVs. “The DRDO has a project going, but it will be very difficult to give a time frame to develop this technology,” he notes. “All I can say is that they are progressing well.”
The DRDO’s programme is meant to be a technology demonstrator. The weaponisation of a UAV is a complex task as it would involve developing a highly manoeuverable aircraft possibly with stealth features assisted by a complicated network system and data link for real time transmission. Another challenge would be the time frame.
The former air chief might be willing to give a long handle in terms of time; the DRDO’s record on this count leaves much to be desired. Vice admiral (retd) A K Singh, who was director general Coast Guard and also headed the tri-service Andaman and Nicobar command, is not optimistic. “Their track record is zero,” he maintains, talking about all major key projects from the LCA to the Main Battle Tank Arjun — all of which have been lingering for several years. Singh, a submariner himself and expert on nuclear technology, claimed that the DRDO has been a big let down when it comes to delivery of key technology.
The retired admiral says combat drones can venture into areas where one cannot risk sending a traditional fighter jet — in high-risk dense-air defence environment. The unarmed UAVs, he notes, have been used effectively by all the three services. “The advantage of a drone is that even if it is shot down by the enemy, you don’t lose much,” he points out, citing the standoff between India and Pakistan during early years of 2000 when an Indian UAV was shot down near Lahore.
Islamabad’s alacrity
There is a need to hurry if one takes a look around at what others are doing. Pakistan has been clamouring for drone technology. Since drones are being used inside its territory, the Pakistani leadership has made several public statements asking the US administration to pass on the technology to launch these strikes.
Till the homegrown UCAVs are available, the Indian armed forces will have to rely
on support from the foreign companies. Israel’s Harpy drone, which is used to destroy radar systems, is being sold to India. The army is keen to acquire the Israeli system. In the absence of help from the US, it would try to produce its own UCAV with the help of its strategic military partner China. There are reports about Pakistan making its Uqaab UAV capable of firing a missile.
China has an active plan to develop its own UCAV. As in other cases, little is known about the progress made by the Chinese on this front except what is available in the public domain of the cyber world. The use of combat drones in India’s neighbourhood has certainly not gone unnoticed. When the infantry commanders met for their annual meeting in Mhow (in western Madhya Pradesh) last week, military operations in Swat and other areas of Af-Pak was a major point of discussion.
Apart from analysing these operations, the commanders also held a brainstorming session on technologies of the future that have arrived in the region. The message has sunk in. The combat drone technology at the moment is only with the US and it will not pass it on to any other country. The experts believe India will have to keep its options open as it prepares its armed forces for future challenges.
Going by the expenditure projections on UAVs for the next two years, the services are likely to spend thousands of crores of rupees. The navy has a budget of around Rs 630 crore for UAVs. Army’s infantry has projected requirement of 127 UAVs. Similarly, signal has a budget of Rs 1,300 crore. The artillery has a plan for weaponisation of Israeli Heron UAVs and the IAF is looking to acquire a UAV simulator. There is a need to integrate resources and come out with a credible solution to arm the drones.
Stealth factor
A UAV is defined as a reusable, uncrewed vehicle capable of controlled, sustained, level flight and powered by a jet or reciprocating engine. Currently, military UAVs perform reconnaissance as well as attack missions. The abbreviation UAV has been expanded in some cases to UAVS (unmanned-aircraft vehicle system) to denote the fact that these are not just aircraft but systems that incorporate ground stations and other elements UCAVs are a very very great force multiplier for national security environment and a developing technology
— Fali Homi Major, former Indian Air Force chief
The advantage of a drone is that even if it is shot down by the enemy, you don’t lose much.
— A K Singh,
Vice Admiral (retd)
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