The Importance of the Unmanned

Gp Capt. A.K. Sachdev (retd)

Unmanned aerial platforms are almost as old as controlled, heavier-than-air flight; the term ‘drone’—used to describe remotely (or autonomously) controlled, unmanned aircraft—was first used to describe small target aircraft employed for practice firing by ship-mounted guns in the 1920s.

A century later, drones have come a long way. Every role that an aircraft, fixed wing or rotary, can perform is now in the realm of drones. All the offensive roles have been performed by them including carriage of bombs, missiles, guns, rockets, air to air missiles and even more significantly, suicide strike missions which manned aircraft could never be assigned. All C4ISR roles have been assigned to them in their various forms. Medical and casualty evacuation has been carried out by them. Re-supply and logistic support have been done by them extensively.

The loyal wingman concept with unmanned wing support and manned aircraft protection is already proven and unmanned wingmen are under development and manufacture. Even air to air refuelling has been carried out by an unmanned tanker. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly living up to its promise of empowering unmanned flight and adding new nuances to drones, helping them to assertively usurp manned aircraft roles. In this backdrop, let us see if there is a need to bolster the unmanned prowess of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Heron Unmanned Aerial System

IAF’s Unmanned Muscle

In the 1980s, the IAF had used the Chukar drones manufactured by the US but it did not acquire many drones. Just as the drone attacks on Jammu airfield in June this year sparked off a flurry of activity and thought on defence against drones, our experience in Kargil (mid-1999) had also ignited renewed interest in drones. Use of rotary and fixed wing aircraft during Kargil was constrained due to the terrain; this reality and the inhuman treatment meted out to pilots downed over Pakistani territory were convincing factors in favour of drones with their advantages of slow speeds, high manoeuvrability and absence of onboard pilots.

The IAF had acquired its first drone—Israel Aerospace Industries’s (IAI) Searcher 1 and formed its first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) squadron (No 34 Squadron) in November 2000, at Bhatinda. In December 2003, the UAV squadrons were re-numbered in the 3000 series. Israel, ever ready to enter into defence industrial relations with Indian government and Indian business entities, offered the Searcher I and later Searcher II. Reportedly, Searcher IIs are equipped with the standard day/ night surveillance turrets. According to open sources, there are five squadrons and a Tech Flight but the UAV holding of the IAF is a closely guarded secret and can only be surmised to be around 100 as open sources give the total number of UAVs held by the Indian military to be around 200.

IAI’s Heron 1, a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV, was inducted by the IAF in 2003. It was designed to carry out strategic reconnaissance and surveillance and Israel offered it to India more for the validation and trial phase of the UAV. India was thus the first user of Heron 1. The Israeli Air Force and Turkish Defence Forces followed and deployed it for high altitude land surveillance and maritime patrol missions.

Indian Heron 1s are reportedly configured with an Elta Systems radar and a stabilised Tamam surveillance and targeting turret. The Heron 1 has demonstrated flight operations of up to 52 hours duration at up to 35,000 ft but typically flies 40 hours at an altitude of 30,000 ft with a range of 3,000km and a 250kg payload which could be electro-optical and thermal surveillance equipment, SAR radars for ground surveillance, maritime patrol radars and sensors, signals and other intelligence collection antennas and equipment, laser designators, and even radio relays.

The IAF was expected to replace all its Searcher I and II UAVs with the Heron 1, but that did not happen and the Searcher II UAVs continue to be in service. Initially, 12 Heron 1s were procured and in 2005, another 50 were reportedly ordered.

The IAF had been seeking Heron TP UAV since 2012. Its procurement was approved in 2015, with reports emerging in mid-2016 that entry into service with the IAF was imminent, possibly triggered by Pakistan’s use of its indigenous Burraq in a successful counter terrorist strike in 2015, in the Shawal Valley which killed three t