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Govt to deploy UAV'S for reconnaissance of Naxal hideouts
After badly burning its fingers in the deadly Dantewada ambush on Tuesday, the Centre will deploy spy drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for reconnaissance of Naxal hideouts at the tri-junction of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh over the next few days.
Drones could have helped save lives in Dantewada as UAVs could well have picked up the presence of the armed Maoist horde which was reportedly 1,000-strong. The use of drones to comb forest areas ahead of long-haul patrols, particularly if there are intelligence alerts on insurgent presence, would help ground forces.
These Israeli drones, controlled through ground stations several miles away, will give the security forces real-time intelligence and imagery to track the movement of ultras even through thick jungles. "They will make the battlezone transparent for us," said an official. Senior security officials have been arguing for better technology to help CRPF in unfamiliar terrain.
The deployment of drones comes even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to have indicated that he did not think the use of helicopter gunships was a good idea in fighting Maoists. Using gunships to fire at insurgents, and the possibility of collateral victims, was pretty much a no-go scenario for security forces, said well-placed sources.
Apart from using two to three of the Israeli Heron and Searcher-II drones already present with the IAF and Army, the home ministry is also expediting procurement of Israeli UAVs for CRPF, BSF and ITBP.
One new Israeli UAV, in fact, will be tested on a trial basis as early as next week in the Naxal-infested areas. Subsequently, the ministry will put three-four more such drones for air-surveillance over Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
While IAF UAVs were deployed for reconnaissance purposes in Chhattisgarh last year as well, they were later withdrawn because of the absence of required infrastructure in the state. "The government has now set up the paraphernalia needed to control UAVs in remote areas," said an official.
The home ministry, meanwhile, is in the process of taking several other measures to increase the capacity of paramilitary forces -- CRPF, BSF and ITBP -- in terms of their training for specific duties in Naxal-affected areas.
"We are in the process of bifurcating CRPF into two parts, with one part being dedicated to operational works in Naxal and insurgency-hit areas and the other earmarked for soft duties like riot control and others as helping arms of states," said an official.
Currently, the CRPF has to deploy the same personnel for soft duties as well as counter-insurgency operations as there are no separate battalions for different tasks, leading to poor quality of deployment for various operations.
Though Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Special Action Force (SAF) have been set up for riot control and anti-Naxal operation exercises respectively, generally the government has to depend on poorly-trained CRPF personnel to assist them.
Besides bifurcating the tasks of CRPF personnel, the ministry will also strengthen the training infrastructure of paramilitary forces. The need for better training is felt in view of slackness on the part of central forces. In fact, the government has not upgraded the training infrastructure of BSF -- which is also deployed for anti-Naxal operations -- since 1966. The stories of other forces are not different.
Govt to deploy drones for recce along Red corridor - The Times of India
After badly burning its fingers in the deadly Dantewada ambush on Tuesday, the Centre will deploy spy drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for reconnaissance of Naxal hideouts at the tri-junction of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh over the next few days.
Drones could have helped save lives in Dantewada as UAVs could well have picked up the presence of the armed Maoist horde which was reportedly 1,000-strong. The use of drones to comb forest areas ahead of long-haul patrols, particularly if there are intelligence alerts on insurgent presence, would help ground forces.
These Israeli drones, controlled through ground stations several miles away, will give the security forces real-time intelligence and imagery to track the movement of ultras even through thick jungles. "They will make the battlezone transparent for us," said an official. Senior security officials have been arguing for better technology to help CRPF in unfamiliar terrain.
The deployment of drones comes even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to have indicated that he did not think the use of helicopter gunships was a good idea in fighting Maoists. Using gunships to fire at insurgents, and the possibility of collateral victims, was pretty much a no-go scenario for security forces, said well-placed sources.
Apart from using two to three of the Israeli Heron and Searcher-II drones already present with the IAF and Army, the home ministry is also expediting procurement of Israeli UAVs for CRPF, BSF and ITBP.
One new Israeli UAV, in fact, will be tested on a trial basis as early as next week in the Naxal-infested areas. Subsequently, the ministry will put three-four more such drones for air-surveillance over Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
While IAF UAVs were deployed for reconnaissance purposes in Chhattisgarh last year as well, they were later withdrawn because of the absence of required infrastructure in the state. "The government has now set up the paraphernalia needed to control UAVs in remote areas," said an official.
The home ministry, meanwhile, is in the process of taking several other measures to increase the capacity of paramilitary forces -- CRPF, BSF and ITBP -- in terms of their training for specific duties in Naxal-affected areas.
"We are in the process of bifurcating CRPF into two parts, with one part being dedicated to operational works in Naxal and insurgency-hit areas and the other earmarked for soft duties like riot control and others as helping arms of states," said an official.
Currently, the CRPF has to deploy the same personnel for soft duties as well as counter-insurgency operations as there are no separate battalions for different tasks, leading to poor quality of deployment for various operations.
Though Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Special Action Force (SAF) have been set up for riot control and anti-Naxal operation exercises respectively, generally the government has to depend on poorly-trained CRPF personnel to assist them.
Besides bifurcating the tasks of CRPF personnel, the ministry will also strengthen the training infrastructure of paramilitary forces. The need for better training is felt in view of slackness on the part of central forces. In fact, the government has not upgraded the training infrastructure of BSF -- which is also deployed for anti-Naxal operations -- since 1966. The stories of other forces are not different.
Govt to deploy drones for recce along Red corridor - The Times of India
