Emerging Threat: Drone
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Unmanned vehicles (drones) are useful, but they can also be rogue. To combat this threat, a comprehensive strategy is needed from all security forces, including the Defence Forces, Coast Guard, Border Security Force (BSF), National Security Guard (NSG), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and civil police. India has a well-articulated Drone Policy 2021, but an anti-drone policy is still being developed. Policy defines who can and cannot do something, while strategy explains how to do it.
Passive radio frequency (RF) detection, high definition Electro Optical/ Infra Red (EO/IR) cameras and acoustics sensors can play an important role in creating a multi-sensory solution, but have their own limitations. 5G has added another dimension where the communication is not dependent on direct link between the drone and the operator. EO/IR devices are adversely affected by atmospheric obscurities and emissivity, providing very short detection range. Radar is the only sensor which can provide a complete 3D awareness in all-weather at decent ranges, though the band needs to be carefully chosen based on the specific requirements. RF and GPS jamming are only useful against compliant operators, while kinetic kill is another potent option. Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) use focused electromagnetic energy to neutralize the threat. High Energy Lasers and High Power Microwaves complement each other in combating drones. Defence Tech giants like Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies have made substantial investments in this field. The USA Department of Defence allocates a yearly budget of $ 1Billion towards developing directed energy weapons. The DoD USA has been pursuing DEW technology for a decade, but fears the "Valley of Death". Ukraine has received the first six interceptors from the US, including radars, jammers, artificial intelligence technologies and a Drone Hunter with net catcher. Net catchers must be fully autonomous and capable of day/night operations with advanced AI/ML algorithms.

Nations need Perfect Drone Strategy
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A drone threat can emerge in different scenarios with different stakes at risk, so a 'one size fits all' approach to anti-drone solutions may not work. Anti-drone strategy should be tailored to the Drone Policy itself, which classifies drones into different categories and lists mandatory safety features. Geo-fencing (a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area) should be mandatory for drone registration to ensure that unintentional mistakes don't cause alarm and no time is wasted in the case of an intentional breach.

Counter Drone Efforts in the Developed Countries
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The USA established the Joint C-UAS Office in 2019 to lead, synchronize, and direct C-sUAS activities. In the UK, the National Protective Security Authority coordinates with the counter drone unit. Interoperability between various agencies is important for effective utilisation of resources and efficient solutions. India has experienced issues with its Herons and Searchers.

India’s preparedness in New Warfare Area
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India must develop a counter drone strategy involving all stakeholders, providing access to counter-drone capabilities, effective legislation, training, and guidance, and developing strong relationships with industry. It will act as a deterrent and prevent undesirable occurrences.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Drone Shakti Scheme as part of the proposals the Union Budget 2022 proposals. The current fiscal (FY 2022-23) is expected to be the best year for India's drone industry, with investments totalling nearly $50 million.
India is a drone importing nation and most of its unmanned aerial capabilities are imported. India is making efforts to initiate joint research & development and UAV manufacturing units with the U.S. and Israeli public-private sector partners, such as Mahindra Defence and Aeronautics Ltd of Israel, Adani Defence & Aerospace and Elbit Systems. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Israel Aerospace Industries and Dynamatic Technologies signed a MoU for joint manufacturing of UAVs at DefExpo 2020. Several indigenous UAV and UCAV projects of the DRDO are underway, but the pace at which they are moving is not at par with the speed needed to build its drone warfare capabilities. Project AURA (Autonomous Unmanned Research Aircraft) and Ghatak are two important indigenous UCAV projects in India. AURA is an autonomous stealthy unmanned aerial vehicle, powered by a 52kn dry variant of indigenously developed Kaveri engine. DRDO Rustom is a medium-altitude long endurance (MALE) UAV with three variants, and Lakshya Pilotless Target Aircraft is a cost-effective re-usable high subsonic aerial target system powered by a gas turbine engine and launched either from land or ship. On 16 March 2017, the latest version of aircraft Lakshya-2 was successfully flight-tested. The Nishant Multi Mission Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is a multi-mission UAV with day/night capability used for battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance, target tracking & localization, and artillery fire correction. It has autonomous flight capabilities and is controlled from a user-friendly ground control station. Micro & Mini UAVs are being developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) and CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL). IdeaForge and DRDO have jointly developed a light-weight, autonomous mini UAV Netra for surveillance and reconnaissance operations. Other startups and MSMEs have the potential to develop best in class unmanned aerial systems, but need strong support from the government and private sector players.

Conclusion
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Drones and air defence systems are the future, and drone wars are a reality. India must learn to think ahead of its time and use powerful technologies to deal with future threats. Anti-drone technology and drone swarms are two trends India needs to focus on, as China is dominating the UAV/UCAV space. India has good defence partners willing to join in these efforts. The time for working in this direction has come.
The views expressed above belong to the author(s)