NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 18: The emphasis in future wars will be on electronicintelligence and having realised this, becoming tech-savvy is the Army'slatest mantra. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), sensors, thermal imagers,are all being put to test during the desert exercises being currentlyundertaken by the Army and Air Force together.The UAVs, capable of flying undetected over enemy territory, take picturesat regular intervals and provide valuable information about enemydeployment, movement and assets. ``This is the most cost-effective method ofgetting accurate information from across the border. But our main problem isnot here in the desert sector, it is in the high-altitude areas of Jammu andKashmir,'' an officer monitoring the exercises in the Rajasthan desertssaid.Even though UAVs are a priority item, they are yet to be provided to thedefence forces, especially for troops posted along the 150-km-long area ofintrusion in the Kargil sector and the Siachen glacier. And both the Armyand the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are tradingcharges over the delay. Army officers insist that DRDO neither permittedthem to import them nor kept its promise of delivering a UAV. DRDO officialsput the ball right back in the army's court saying that Army did not specifyit needed the UAV for high-altitude terrain.``The Army did not foresee such a large-scale involvement in high-altitudeareas of Kargil and Siachen. Therefore, we were catering to theirspecifications in the desert sector. Something that is built to fly indeserts cannot be expected to perform the same task at 14,000-17000 ft. Now,we are modifying it to suit the changed demands,'' a DRDO official said.The road to modernisation also includes weapons-locating radars for theartillery. Sources said the Government had, two years ago, come close toclinching a deal with the United States but the post-Pokharan sanctions putthe deal into deep freeze. ``Talks are on with other countries also for WLRsand we are in the process of getting the UAVs,'' sources in the Ministry ofDefence (MoD) said.
