Drone market in the United States only is estimated around $6 billion and the pilots who operate this swarm technology do not care about the legal ramifications and now to witness such in our own backyard is appalling, the drone attacks in Manipur is not only a cause of concern for the state but for the upper echelons at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Where did such high end technology fall into the enemy camp? Or were they armed by foreign intelligence agencies to create a proxy war? Whatever the reasons be, it has serious implications for our national security, with the Eastern Air Command having permanent air bases including forward air bases.
An article released by the Perspectives on Terrorism, “Taking Fourth-Generation Warfare to the Skies? An Empirical Exploration of Non-State Actors’ Use of Weaponised Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs—‘Drones’)” just shows how the enemy has become resourceful and adaptable.
The Modi leadership should start gearing up to resolve the crisis in order to bring some semblance into the Land of Jewels, in 2023 the Indian Air Force (Eastern Air Command) conducted its annual command level exercise ‘Poorvi Akash’ which test ran its air assets capability the same state of operational readiness and having air defence systems could provide a strong level of defence against aerial threats.
India’s defence deals with the Israelis go back during Operation Blue Star, the back-and-forth agreement even was mentioned in an exclusive report by Al Jazeera, ‘Israel-Palestine conflict India exports rockets, explosives to Israel amid Gaza war, documents reveal’ if so why not employ microwave weapon for drones or an Integrated Drone Detection and Interdiction Systems which could offer some level of protection for civilian zones, currently employed on the northern borders this would be a fundamental change for the Northeastern part of India.
The book Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine by Andrew Roberts and David H. Petraeus is a study as to why leaders and commanders fail to read the writing on the wall always.