National Anti-Drone Guidelines | 23 Oct 2019

Recently, the Indian government has finalized National Counter Rogue Drone Guidelines for handling the threats from Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

• The genesis of the counter rogue drone guidelines lies in the rising number of drone-related safety incidents across the world including in India.
  
  • Recent incidents of the utilization of drones to target VVIPs in Venezuela and Saudi Aramco drone attacks are a stark reminder of the threat level from rogue drones.
  • India has an estimated over 6 lakh rogue or unregulated Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)of various sizes and capacities
• To handle the above scenario the Ministry of Civil Aviation has suggested a counter-rogue drone deployment plan, categorized across three models, based on the sensitivity of vital assets and installations.
• The strategic installations differ from state to state and place to place, based on their geographical condition, criticality and construction type but standard categorization would be:
  
  • Full-scale model :
    
    • It will work for the protection of vital assets of critical national importance like Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament House, nuclear installations, major airports, etc;
    • Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS) with primary and passive detection means like radar, Radio Frequency (RF) detectors, electro-optical, and infrared cameras to be installed.
  • Mid-segment model:
    
    • It will protect installations like metro airports, oil refineries, ports, and power plants, etc
    • A lower level of threat mitigation techniques (compared to the full-scale model) to be installed with Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS).
  • Basic model:
    
    • Aims to protect state secretariats, important official premises, monuments of national importance etc.
    • The basic threat mitigation technology to be used.
• A realistic vulnerability analysis of identified vital areas/vital points by specialist security agencies based on impact assessment from a different category of drones, natural camouflage, and local security scenario would help to establish Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS).
• The Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS) includes the following modern weapons:
  
  • Sky Fence:
    
    • It aims to block a lethal drone that uses a range of signal disruptors to jam the flight path and prevent them from entering their target, a sensitive installation or event venue.
  • Drone gun:
    
    • It is capable of jamming the radio, a global positioning system (GPS) and a mobile signal between the drone and the pilot.
    • Further, it forces the drone to the ground in good time before it could wreak any damage.
    • Australia has already designed such kind of weapon with an effective range of 2 km.
  • Advanced Test High Energy Asset (ATHENA):
    
    • It works by firing a high energy laser beam on a rogue drone resulting in its complete destruction in the air.
    • It is a very costly technology and is currently being tested by the US army.
  • Drone Catcher:
    
    • It swiftly approaches an enemy drone and grabs it by throwing a net around it.
    • Such a tool is required when a rogue drone is needed to be captured safely to extract incriminating evidence from it
  • Skywall 100:
    
    • It is the ground version of the 'drone catcher' and it works by bringing down a UAV using a parachute that is hurled through a net from 100 meters distance.
• In addition to the counter rogue drone deployment models, the civil aviation ministry has also suggested a set of legal procedures to handle rogue drones.
  
  • The legislation needs to address the risk-based use of Counter-UAS authority and coordination among relevant departments and agencies.
  • It shall also aim to mitigate adverse impacts of anti-drone guidelines on the safety, efficiency, and accessibility to the Indian airspace to the maximum extent feasible.
  • The law shall state a legal framework for authorized use of C-UAS systems by security agencies for protecting vital assets, safeguarding manned aviation, supporting law enforcement activities, protecting national borders and conducting operations.

Source:IE