The Border Security Force (BSF) is raising a maiden “drone squadron” for deployment along the India-Pakistan border even as it has begun “hardening” its defences and posts against lethal UAV attacks in the wake of lessons drawn during Operation Sindoor.
The squadron, to be based in specific border outposts (BoPs) at this front, will comprise an assortment of reconnaissance, surveillance and attack drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and specially-trained personnel who can operate these machines, official sources in the security establishment told PTI.
The squadron will be navigated by a control room based in the western command headquarters of the BSF in Chandigarh, the sources said. The BSF is primarily tasked to guard the India-Pakistan international border (IB).
The decision to raise the unit was taken after a recent review of the strengths, weaknesses and threats facing the force post-Operation Sindoor.
The operation was launched by India to strike at terrorist and defence bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as a retaliation against the Pahalgam attack of April 22 in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed in the Baisaran meadows.
The BSF actively participated in the operation, launched on May 7, along with the Army.