Bikram Vohra
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles that we now call drones goes back a long way, especially when used off the deck of an aircraft carrier. In fact, the US had experimented with carrier-launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) as far back as the sixties and the Vietnam War. They recorded 28 sorties from the USS Ranger before letting the option slide.
With QUAD now working to create some balance of power in the Indian Ocean and hold the Chinese expansionist priorities in check, the drones are literally on centre stage and likely to move very swiftly from the realm of surveillance vehicles to that of weapons delivery. Taken to a logical conclusion, we could, in our time, witness the end of the aerial combat with pilots trained at huge costs—instead, sorties managed by ground control on high-definition screens in a possible star wars scenario. War is a video game. What was once a toy is now a potent weapon and is slated to become a spearhead of an aerial attack.
India is at the forefront of creating such a viable alternate force. The DRDO Rustom (English: Warrior) is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation. However, Rustom may just be the beginning of the swiftest revolution in military strategy. As it is, aviation held that record until it was beaten into second place by the giddy pace of the web and Wi-Fi technology.
Across the world, the drone, now not so aptly named, is anything but slothful as it performs multiple tasks. At the top end of the market is Lockheed Martin’s R 170. Sentinel is an American UAV developed by Lockheed Martin and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It is reportedly a stealth aircraft with state-of-the-art aerial reconnaissance capability.
India needs to consider very strongly a fair number of drones on board the newly launched INS Vikrant. Aircraft carrier fleets are now of the essence. Recently, the US Navy successfully launched a drone from a carrier setting the pace for the near future.
India has choices. As far back as 2017, New Delhi was granted a licence to purchase 22 Guardian drones from General Atomics even though Washington was a bit concerned about India using them for surgical strikes against terror outfits on Pakistan soil. Currently, two Sea Guardians are operative, possibly taking that figure to 30. The army also has four Israeli-made Herons doing duty on the LOC in Ladakh.
The recent pronouncement by Turkey that it will never sell the efficient bayraktar drones to India underscores its nexus with Pakistan, with whom it is in bed with when it comes to giving it this edge. It also makes it imperative to have an answer. The confirmed news of a Sea Cavalry SD-40 taking off from the deck of a Type 052 destroyer is equally worrying, giving China a distinct advantage. The SD-40 is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV designed and manufactured by Chinese manufacturer Xiamen Hanfeiying Aviation Technologies.
This two-metre UAV is strongly marketed as a VTOL UAV designed and manufactured by Chinese manufacturer Xiamen Hanfeiying Aviation Technologies. The long-range unmanned aircraft is designed to perform over-the-horizon patrol, inspections, as well as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations in support of the naval forces.
In the running is the MQ 9 Reaper or Predator B, made by General Atomics. Lockheed Martin has a foot in the door with the Indago, which it says is ideal for surveillance. The Indago system weighs less than 10 lbs., fits within a small backpack, and deploys in approximately two minutes. With industry-leading endurance, high-resolution payload options, and low acoustic signature, Indago provides tactical situational awareness and intelligence collection capabilities for military and government customers around the globe.
The RQ 170 is also a contender for the carrier, and India could take the lead in this aspect by getting its drone fleet out to sea. We also have access to the Israeli-built Harop “killer” or Kamikaze drones that act as cruise missiles by exploding into enemy targets and radars. This is certainly no toy and has lethal firepower in its ability to self-destruct by becoming a homing missile. At $70,000 a shot, its unerring targeting makes it a loitering munition to coin a new phase. That is because it can hang around and vector until it is needed to go into kamikaze mode.
A decent option would be to make a cheaper Reaper, and with Boeing and Tatas in an agreement on the Make-in-India platform, this sort of a killing machine could be validated. The MQ 28 Ghost Bat is the perfect base to launch this scheme as a stealth and multi-role drone. The Bat is designed as a force multiplier aircraft capable of flying alongside manned aircraft for support and performing autonomous missions independently using artificial intelligence.
One of the primary reasons for India to get serious about drone roles is that the Vikrant is dated when compared to its Chinese counterparts. The carrier took 13 years to build; the Chinese did it in four years. The latest technology is integrated into two combat-ready aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, with the third, Fujian, being fitted.
It is seen as a supercarrier. The Fujian is estimated to displace 85,000 to 100,000 tons and carry around 50 to 70 aircraft. This makes it the first non-US carrier to rival the US Navy’s Ford- and Nimitz-class in terms of size and displacement. In comparison, the Vikrant, while a big success for Made-in-India, is regrettably a generation behind, still using a sloped deck and capable of being home to 30 aircraft, much the same as the Vikramaditya. That is why they need teeth in the ship, and VTOL drones could be the winning card.
Bikram Vohra is a Consulting Editor at IA&D
