Govt putting in place protocols to tackle threat of spy balloons after Andamans incident

Drafted by one of the military commands, the set of tri-service protocols being put in place will be open to upgradation, the officials said. Already, they said, several radars are being upgraded at key military installations.

Last month, the United States shot down a giant Chinese balloon, which it accused of spying on its crucial military sites, with an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile fired from an F-22 fighter jet. China denied the allegations and said it was a civilian aircraft meant to research weather-related aspects. Days later, the US shot down a cylindrical-shaped object over Canada and another unidentified aerial object in its own airspace.

According to officials, India’s protocols were drafted after an aerial object was spotted over the Andamans, even though its origin could not be ascertained at that time. According to a Bloomberg report, the object had drifted away over the ocean before military authorities could take a decision on action to be taken.

“As per the standard operating procedure, positive identification of the aerial object and subsequent verification to rule out the possibility of it being a civil asset will be the first steps when such a flying object is spotted,” an official said, adding that this can be done with aircraft or drones.

“Once identified and verified, a decision will be taken to destroy the target. The weapon systems, such as missiles or a ground-based air defence system, and the aircraft deployed will be selected based on the altitude of the target,” the official said.

The aircraft would be launched from the nearest bases. The possibility of deploying an aircraft from an aircraft carrier, if that is in the vicinity, is also there, the official said, adding that the SOP states that the entire operation from the launch of the weapon system to destroying the target will be photographed and recorded in detail.

“A detailed report will be prepared including the sighting time, size of target, its description recorded on the radars on ground and this will be intimated through the chain of command,” the official said, adding that the wreckage of the target will be recovered for analysis.

Another official said the primary challenge in such a sighting is the detection and identification of the object.

“Even the US, which possesses the most sophisticated military equipment, had earlier failed to detect the slow-moving Chinese balloons, which have little or no radar signature as against fighter jets or missiles,” the official said.

“Firstly, the satellites or radars cannot detect balloons as they are slow-moving. As of now, several radars at key military sites are being upgraded to detect such aerial objects,” the official added.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands house the tri-service Andaman and Nicobar military command. What makes these islands strategically important is their proximity to the Indo-Pacific as well as to major choke-points or sea lines of communication (SLOC) in the Bay of Bengal — the Malacca Strait, Sunda Strait, Lombok Strait and the Ombai-Wetar straits.

Most of the world’s shipping trade passes through these choke-points. And, the islands offer India the potential to play a critical role towards enhancing its influence in the Indian Ocean region and support its military operations in the area.

Last month, when asked about China’s use of surveillance balloons in the US and Canada, and the possibility of such tactics being deployed against India, Army Chief General Manoj Pande responded that the country must remain alert and “be ahead of the learning curve”.