New Delhi, July 8
Hi-tech ground sensors and other observation equipment needed to monitor cross-border infiltration along the Line of Control (LoC) are to be deployed soon, with a highly acclaimed US military equipment manufacturing firm having already prepared a pilot project.

According to reports here, Sandia National Laboratories of the USA has prepared a pilot project which entails the deployment of the hi-tech sensors and observation equipment along the LoC initially on a trial basis. If found successful, the Army plans to deploy the sensors all along the LoC not only in Jammu and Kashmir but also in other areas.

The deployment would begin immediately after an Indian team of technical experts visits the famed US laboratories in the coming days. The technical team would comprise officers from the Army and paramilitary and civilian officials from the Ministries of Defence and Home Affairs.

The meeting of the fifth Indo-US Joint Working Group on Terrorism in Washington on July 11 and 12 would finalise the dates for the team’s visit to Sandia Laboratories. Already, some US-made sensors have been put in place along certain portions of the LoC in the Kargil sector, leading to an increase in the infiltration detection rate.

Reports said the technical team visiting Sandia would be identifying “types of technologies” that could be adopted for the pilot project. The technical team is expected to pick the latest technology and one that is not in use at the moment in India.

The pilot project is expected to be experimented along the LoC for a few kms.