Internal / External Security Aspects of Drones

Drones / Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are unmanned aircrafts which are either remote controlled, or operated by a trained crew, or may operate with various degrees of autonomy with the help of onboard computers. Drones are used in situations where manned flights are considered to be dull, dirty or dangerous. Drones have commercial, scientific, recreational and various other applications.

Like all other new technologies, the use of drones has advantages as well as threats.

How the use of drones is beneficial?

• Military applications: Drones are used in combat. This helps in preventing the military personnel from taking part in dangerous operations and thus saves their lives. They are also used in surveillance, reconnaissance, and general military intelligence.
• Versatility: Drones are capable of accessing hard to reach areas. Drones are capable of rotating at same spot and can move in all directions. This makes drones a very preferred tool for aerial photography, military operations, news broadcast, film making etc.
• Helps during disasters: At the time of disasters, Drones are very handy to locate stranded, injured victims and survey the damage without risking the lives of rescue personnel.
• Law enforcement: Drones can be used for monitoring large crowds and provides tactical surveillance for law enforcement agencies.
• Infrastructure maintenance and management: with drones inspecting the structures like underside of a bridge or top of the skyscraper has become easy.
• Less expenditure: With drones, the need for buying new aircrafts and spending on its maintenance, fuel etc. becomes unnecessary. It therefore helps in reducing the expenditure incurred on operations which were earlier performed by manned aircrafts.

What are the threats?

• After several close encounters between drones and aircrafts, the drones has become a potential threat to the planes. How much damage a jet airliner may suffer due to its encounter with a drone is not clear. Though the passenger jets are designed to survive a bird attack, the consequences may be harmful if several drone like objects are sucked into the engines. Small drones may not be dangerous but the ones which are weighing around 25kg have the potential to damage the vital components of an aircraft. Unlike birds, drones have metal components including lithium-ion batteries which may explode when damaged. This is especially dangerous to light aircrafts and helicopters.
• Terrorists may use drones to deliver explosives and bombs. Although the payload of drones is smaller, a small hand grenade thrown into a crowd can be lethal. Especially terrifying is the possibility of the use of biological weapons like aerosols.

What is the way forward?

Enforcement of rules and regulations:

• In many countries, the drones are not registered and counted. Stricter enforcement of rules and regulations and use of technology are the need of the hour.
• Drone registration, public education, insistence on safety features would help curb irresponsible behavior of some drone users.
• In Britain and US, there are rules which prohibit drones from flying near the airports. They are supposed to be kept in sight of the operators. They cannot fly at a height of more than 150 metres. Not following these rules is a criminal offence. Similar stringent rules have to be framed in other countries as well.
• No-drone zones can also be employed in areas like airports.

Technological interventions

• Installing software programs like “geo-fencing” will help a drone from flying near airports and nuclear power stations. It also helps in restricting the drone’s speed and height.
• Another technological intervention is a “virtual tether”. It puts the drone on an invisible leash which helps the drone to stay near to its operator.
• Crash-avoidance technology like anti-collision systems, combining sensors with machine-learning algorithms etc. is another potential area of development.
• Drones themselves can be used to detect, capture and shoot down those released by terrorists.
• Drones can make use of highly detailed digital maps similar to the ones used in autonomous cars for effective operation.