The backstory
About a week back, there was a
drone attack on an Indian Air Force base in Jammu. Two drones dropped
explosives and flew back. We do not yet know where the drones came from or if
they had a specific target, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is conducting
an enquiry. All we know so far is that the twin explosions did not damage any
defense equipment nor did they cause loss of lives.
So what?
While the direct impact of the
detonations does not seem to be high, there is cause to worry. Although the use
of drones for disaster relief, mapping and surveillance is becoming
commonplace, drone warfare is still new to India, especially on the contentious
Jammu & Kashmir border. Disturbances on the Line of Control (LoC) have been
either due to direct shelling from the Pakistani side or the disquiet created
by proxies in the region, that is to say disturbances did not have an aerial
angle to them.
