IAF seeks loitering UAV system to protect vital installations from attacks by long range swarm drones

With drones playing an increasingly dominate role in warfare, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has asked the industry to develop a multi-domain aerial system that can loiter overhead a sensitive installation and protect it against an attack by hostile swarm drones.

Swarm drones are unmanned aerial vehicles designed to operate together as a single group controlled remotely or pre-programmed to operate autonomously to carry out surveillance of attack missions. There can be any number of drones in a swarm and these are considered to be force multipliers.

In the second edition of Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), released by defence minister Rajnath Singh on October 7, the IAF has listed out its requirements for a counter swarm drone system that can be carried and launched through multiple domains, such as individuals, vehicles, tubes, aerostats or balloons.

Pointing out that long range swarm drones are a threat to vital installations and the interception of these drones will require large infrastructure and high per weapon cost, the document adds that swarm drones carry distributed intelligence with some drones programmed for communication, warhead, dummy, navigation systems, etc.

“With increasing development of swarm drones, an autonomous swarm drone interceptor system is required to detect, identify, disrupt, neutralise and destroy these drones. The system to be developed requires multiple drones that act against swarm to disrupt communication, create confusion by smoke or any other optical disruptor, soft kill, hard kill etc,” the document states.

The counter swarm drones must be able to maintain loiter over a vital installation while waiting for an incoming threat and then be able to home on to the hostile drones and neutralize them through a combination of hard kill, soft kill, communication disruption, navigation disruption, sensor disabling, electromagnetic pulse or any suitable technology in different drones at altitudes of 16,000 feet and above.

The system is required to be portable by road, rail, ships and aircraft for quick deployment and be technically compatible with IAF networks for seamless integration, including command and control, communication, identification of friend and foe system.