Israel tech awaited to tackle high-speed drones
The security agencies are upset in difficulties to intercept the high-speed drones frequently used by the narcoterror gangs to smuggle drugs or weapons in Punjab.
Two drones recovered last Friday from a gang of narcotics smugglers, including an Army jawan, were sophisticated DJI Inspire 2 and DJI Matrice quad-copters reputed for quite operation and speed up to 90 km per hour. These drones attain this speed within seconds of the launch.
Police have arrested four smugglers but their alleged kingpin Ajay Pal is still absconding.
The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Punjab Police are trying to acquire eupment developed by Israel to check the sorties of these high-speed drones. Till then, interception depends on the manual surveillance as the drone being low fliers are not caught on radars.
The Inspire model, available online for around Rs 3 lakh a piece, is a Chinese product which is better used by the filmmakers in Hollywood due to its excellent video camera and still photography results.
Its use to fetch drugs from across the border by the Punjab smugglers has thrown up a new challenge to the security forces. The battery of the Inspire drone allows around 27 minutes of airtimeto fly up to 7 km. The Matrice model has better airtime of 35-38 minutes. Inspire can carry a payload of maximum 5 kg while the Matrice model has the capacity of 7-9 kg payload.
These drones are fitted with intelligent return software that allows them to return to the base even when the contact with them is lost.