Holding foreign drones as potential threat to aviation security, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has tied up with the Indian army to train personnel in identifying drones of Pakistani and Chinese origin, an officer of the force said.
A six-day-long training session was conducted last month in Gopalpur, Odisha, with more sessions planned for the personnel posted at 59 airports across the country. The official cited above was part of the first batch. In Delhi, about 60-70 cases of unidentified flying objects being sighted have been reported but detection has not been done in any of those cases. “The involvement with army will help us not only in detection and identification of the drone but also tell us how to neutralise it. They call it Remotely Piloted Aerial System and during training, various types of drones were displayed. Those assembled in Indian and neighbouring countries are different and how to spot them was part of the training,” the CISF officer said.
The ministry of civil aviation, which has come up with a draft regulation allowing the use of drones, but with some restrictions, has also formed a committee that would study the use of radar that can detect the drones. “There is focus on neutralising the flying object but we must first be able to detect it. So far, it is detected through naked eye but never traced (to its origin nation). World over, there is separate radar for detection of drones or any other small flying objects, which should be the priority for us, too,” said a CISF officer posted at the Delhi airport. The ministry is also testing technologies to capture drones.
“We have already tested technologies that can capture them or block the communication system. Another technology which will be displayed (at future training sessions) would be on how to trace the operator of the illegal drone,” said a ministry official. The draft is open for public consultation and the ministry is soon expected to finalise the rule.