A small tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Indian Army inadvertently strayed across the LoC into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. An officer said the drone was on a training mission when its control was lost due to a technical snag and it drifted into PoK’s Nikial sector.
A message has been sent to Pakistan Army over the hotline between the DGs of military operations seeking the return of the ‘Switch’ fixed-wing VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) UAV which is deployed by infantry battalions for surveillance operations. However, reports say Pakistan has shot down the “mini drone”.
Both India and Pakistan regularly deploy small and large UAVs for surveillance along the 778-km long LoC, as is also the practice along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control with China. Pakistan for the last several years has also been using small drones to courier weapons, explosives and drugs to Punjab and J&K from across the border.
An Indian officer said, “The drone was on a training mission well within Indian territory when its control was lost due to technical malfunction.”
