SSB Interview Question by Nishu Tyagi: How does a drone work? How is it different from UAV? How are drones/UAVs used effectively by the Armed Forces?
Answer: Sir, a drone is any machine that does not have a pilot in it (hobbyist quadcopters, commercial drone used for filming a function or an event, as do remote submarines, and even remote-control cars). Thus, the drones are operated by software or by a remote pilot. The term UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) generally refers to any military aircraft operated without a pilot that can be reused. However, most people use the term drone for any unmanned aircraft.
Drones use rotors for propulsion and flight. Spinning blades push air down which are controlled remotely so that the drone can fly.
A few of the latest small UAV drones such as the DJI Mavic Air and DJI Spark take VTOL (VTOL drones can take off, fly, hover, and land vertically) can be launched from the palm of your hand. The latest high-tech drones are now equipped with collision avoidance systems. These systems fuse one or more of the following sensors to sense and avoid collision:
- Vision Sensor.
- Ultrasonic.
- Infrared.
- Lidar.
- Time of Flight.
- Monocular Vision.
The Mavic 2 will sense objects, then fly around obstacles in front. It can do the same when flying backwards. Or hover if it is not possible to fly around the obstacle. The drone has a multi-band wireless FPV transmitter built in along with an antenna. Depending on the drone, the receiver of the live video signals can be either the remote-control unit, a computer, tablet, or smartphone device. For example, the DJI Mavic Air has an FPV live video range of 8 km with a 1080p quality video transmission.
The video camera mounted on the UAV broadcasts the live video to the pilot on the ground. The ground pilot is flying the aircraft as if they were on-board the aircraft instead of looking at the aircraft from the pilot's actual ground position.
A typical unmanned aircraft is made of light composite materials to reduce weight and increase manoeuvrability. This composite material strength allows military drones to cruise at extremely high altitudes.
UAV drones are equipped with different state of the art technology such as infrared cameras, GPS and laser (consumer, commercial and military UAV). Drones are controlled by remote ground control systems (GSC) and referred to as a ground cockpit.
UAV drones come in a wide variety of sizes, with the largest being mostly used for military purposes such as the predator drone. The next in size are unmanned aircraft, which have fixed wings and require short runways. These are generally used to cover large sections of land, working in areas such as geographical surveying or to combat wildlife poaching. The smaller drones have been seen by us in functions filming us.
Technology: The latest drones have dual Global Navigational Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS and GLONASS. Drones can fly in both GNSS and non-satellite modes. For example, DJI drones can fly in P-Mode (GPS & GLONASS) or ATTI mode (short for Attitude Mode (keep their altitude through barometric pressure), where the drone will maintain a specific altitude but not position. That means the drone will remain at the same height but drift around in the wind., which does not use GPS.
UAV’s in Armed Forces: UAVs have been used widely in attack and combat roles. Military use of drones includes reconnaissance and observation from the sky. Cargo drones are used to supply weapons and cargo to military units. The UAV’s are often used for following mission: -
- Providing ground and aerial gunnery with a target that simulates an enemy aircraft.
- Recording accuracy of fire of conventional weapons during test firing.
- Providing battlefield intelligence in close support: A 25-kilogram drone has eight rotating blades to get it in the air. Its machine gun carries 200 rounds of ammunition and can fire single shots or 15-round bursts. Many countries and groups already use small military drones that can drop grenades or fly into a target to detonate an explosive. Drones strikes are used for targeted killings by several countries including India. For example, the combination of the Reaper (UAV) and the Hellfire missile is what reportedly killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on 3rd Jan 2020. In a post-midnight operation, the remotely piloted MQ-9 had launched two Hellfire missiles at Soleimani’s car and convoy, killing 10 in total. In addition, smaller commercial drones can be utilized during patrolling to weed out ambush laid by the terrorists or enemy BATS team.
- Providing battlefield intelligence in distant support: The aircraft carrier can launch UAV’s for early warning of enemy ships and aircrafts instead of fighter aircrafts. This will help in using aircrafts only for strike missions. On land, the intelligence gathered through UAVs on advance of the enemy formation can be utilized to outmaneuver/ambush the enemy.
- Attacking enemy weapon and ammunition sites remotely or attacking areas which are heavily defended.
- Many UAV’s are sent together with own aircrafts (carrying conventional or nuclear weapons). The large number of UAV’s fool the air surveillance and attack radars and own aircrafts get a safe passage towards intended targets.
- Large UAV’s are used to deliver cargo to remote areas or areas which are under heavy enemy attack.
- Quicker search is possible by using UAV’s both at sea and on land. Once the survivors are located the emergency aid can be dropped close to the survivors till, they are air lifted to safety.
- Units in peace areas can have better surveillance and early warning of trespassers or terrorist attack by deploying commercially used smaller drones.
India has a fleet of around 100 drones, and it plans to add 54 Harop attack drones from Israel to enhance unmanned warfare capability. These drones have electro-optical sensors to loiter over high-value military targets like surveillance bases and radar stations before attacking them. The Reaper drones (The three services are expected to get 10+10+10 the MQ-9 Reaper or Predator-B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones from USA) will be the new addition to the line of drones operated by the Armed Forces, which includes the Heron surveillance drone and Rustom.