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UAVs to provide real-time surveillance during Games
Giving an indication of the grave security threat during next months Commonwealth Games, the government has now given the go-ahead for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to provide reconnaissance and surveillance coverage for all the Games venues and residential zones.
The decision was taken at a high-level security review meeting last week, following which instructions were given to the Indian Air Force and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) to make units of their Israeli-made UAVs available for round-the-clock surveillance during the Games.
While the IAF has been deploying UAVs for several years, the NTRO set up its first base in Dehradun just a few months ago.
Home Ministry officials said that besides reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering, the UAVs will also be deployed to detect any airborne attack, including that of fidayeen paragliders. This follows alerts provided to Indian intelligence agencies by counterparts of more than one country that the Lashkar-e-Toiba had recently equipped itself with substantial paragliding equipment, though the mention of possible use during the Delhi Games is not specified in these inputs.
While the control rooms and other equipment for UAV units of the IAF and NTRO have already been set up, mock drills for use of the reconnaissance aircraft for detecting airborne attackers, including paragliders, will be held at the training base of the National Security Guard (NSG) at Manesar soon.
The use of UAV units for the Commonwealth Games comes months after they were requisitioned by the government for surveillance of Naxal-affected areas, where it did not prove very successful because of the thick forest cover. Now, they will provide real-time imagery and intelligence during the mega sporting event.
Giving an indication of the grave security threat during next months Commonwealth Games, the government has now given the go-ahead for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to provide reconnaissance and surveillance coverage for all the Games venues and residential zones.
The decision was taken at a high-level security review meeting last week, following which instructions were given to the Indian Air Force and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) to make units of their Israeli-made UAVs available for round-the-clock surveillance during the Games.
While the IAF has been deploying UAVs for several years, the NTRO set up its first base in Dehradun just a few months ago.
Home Ministry officials said that besides reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering, the UAVs will also be deployed to detect any airborne attack, including that of fidayeen paragliders. This follows alerts provided to Indian intelligence agencies by counterparts of more than one country that the Lashkar-e-Toiba had recently equipped itself with substantial paragliding equipment, though the mention of possible use during the Delhi Games is not specified in these inputs.
While the control rooms and other equipment for UAV units of the IAF and NTRO have already been set up, mock drills for use of the reconnaissance aircraft for detecting airborne attackers, including paragliders, will be held at the training base of the National Security Guard (NSG) at Manesar soon.
The use of UAV units for the Commonwealth Games comes months after they were requisitioned by the government for surveillance of Naxal-affected areas, where it did not prove very successful because of the thick forest cover. Now, they will provide real-time imagery and intelligence during the mega sporting event.
