Satellite control set to give drones more sting

Satellite control set to give drones more sting

News:

1. India is planning to upgrade its drone operations, from existing ground control stations to satellite control of military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to boost its  range, endurance and flexibility.

Important Facts:

2. This significant capability boost will come with the launch of GSAT 7A.
3. About GSAT 7A

• It is an advanced military communications satellite built by ISRO.
• It is specially geared for RPA (remotely-piloted aircraft) or drone operations.
• It will be country’s second dedicated military satellite after GSAT-7 or ‘Rukmini’ which was launched for the Navy in 2013.

4. Benefits of GSAT 7A

• Indian armed forces as of now control their Israeli-origin surveillance drones like the Heron and Searcher-II UAVs  through a network of ground and ship-based stations, which limits their operations to ‘radio line of sight’
• Radio line of sight: It is a type of propagation that can transmit and receive data only where transmit and receive stations are in view of each other without any sort of an obstacle between them. FM radio, microwave and satellite transmission are examples of line-of-sight
• With the GSAT-7A up in space in geosynchronous orbit, IAF will be able to hugely extend the reach, flexibility and endurance of its UAVs for beyond line of sight missions.
• The footprint of the satellite  with steerable beams, will cover India and its extended neighbourhood.

5. Future Plans Ahead

• India has lagged far behind in utilisation of  frontier space for military purposes, refusing even the demand of Aerospace Command for armed forces.
• IAF will get another satellite, GSAT-7C, within few years to boost its network-centric operations.
• IAF is also planning to launch  additional five satellites to augment the‘NavIC’ project  through a constellation of seven satellites (IRNSS 1A,1B,1C,1D,1E,1F,1H,1I) to rival the US-owned Global Positioning System (GPS).
• India is in advanced negotiations with the US to acquire armed Predator-B or weaponised Sea Guardian drones.

6. About  Predator-B or weaponised Sea Guardian drones.

• These are high-altitude, long-endurance UAVs  that can fire ‘Hellfire’ missiles or ‘smart’ bombs at enemy targets before returning to their bases to re-arm for the next mission like manned  fighter jets.
• These were used against Taliban targets in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

7. Contrast to China

• The Indian armed forces for long have been largely using “dual-use” remote sensing satellites like the Cartosat’ and ‘Risat’ series and foreign satellite transponders, for surveillance, navigation and communication purposes.
• China, in sharp contrast, is even testing an ASAT (anti-satellite) weapons against ‘low-earth orbit’ satellite since 2007.
• China is also developing multiple counter space capabilities to deny adversary use of space-based assets during a crisis or conflict.
• In addition to the development of directed-energy weapons and satellite jammers China is also developing direct-ascent and co-orbital kinetic kill operations.