Page 6 - Pakistan Link - October 18, 2019

P6 – PAKISTAN LINK – OCTOBER 18, 2019 OPINION
Drone Swarms: Saudi Oil Fields Attack Shows Their Destructive Power

n By Riaz Haq show. It was cool. It was also an interesting
CA look into the potential future of aviation, ac-
ozens of cheap commercially avail- cording to a report in Popular Science.
able drones were deployed against Earlier in 2019, China’s Global Times re-
DAbqaiq and Khurais oil fields to cut ported that the country had built helicopter
Saudi Aramco’s production by half, accord- drones capable of intelligent swarm attacks.
ing to multiple media reports. The drones in the swarm can be a combina-
Saudi and US officials tion of different types, including those that
have blamed Iran for the de- can drop proximity explosive mortar shells,
structive hit. This is the first while others can carry grenade launchers, or
time that cheap drone swarms make suicide attacks, Liu Liyuan, a spokesper-
loaded with explosives have son of the company, told the Global Times.
dodged sophisticated air de- American and British Drone Swarms
fense systems to hit critical Earlier this year, British Defense Secre-
infrastructure targets in the tary Gavin Williamson told attendees at an
history of warfare. And it is not likely to be event hosted by a London think tank that UK
the last as more nations and non-state terror will fund the development of “swarm squad-
groups are inspired by it to develop and con- rons of network-enabled drones capable of
template using such tactics. confusing and overwhelming enemy air de-
Some are close to home for Pakistanis. For fenses,” to complement the British fleet of F-35
example, in a clear warning to Pakistan, an In- Joint Strike Fighters.
dian NDTV headline on July 12, 2019 blared: The Khurais oil field was attacked by drones Los Angeles Times recently reported that
“Swarms of Indian Drones Being Designed to the US military has been exploring different it-
Take out Targets like Balakot (Pakistan)”. Israel claimed earlier this year that its Ltd (HAL) and New Space Research and Tech- erations and uses of the drone swarm concept
Will Pakistan develop drone swarm capa- fighter jets hit targets in Syria where Iran was nologies, a Bengaluru based start-up looking for more than a decade, using research pro-
bility, especially after India’s expected deploy- preparing to attack Israel using explosive- at the next-generation aviation technologies, is grams bearing names such as Cicada, Grem-
ment of Russia’s S-400 air defense system? laden “killer drones,” according to New York working furiously to fly the first Indian swarm lins and Valkyrie.
Attack on Saudi Aramco Times. “The drone itself is like a missile,” said drone prototypes in two years, according to Pakistani Drone Swarms
Saudi sources have revealed that 25 Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military NDTV. The Indian drone initiative is called So far very little has been reported about
drones and missiles were used to hit two spokesman. SWARM or ALFA-S or Air-Launched Flexible Pakistan working on drone swarms technol-
sites— the Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities - Last year, Russian military reported that Asset, says NDTV. ogy. However, the need for Pakistan to
which produced 5.7 million barrels of oil per a swarm of low-tech armed drones attacked a The NDTV story described India’s have such technology has become much more
day. Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of carrying Russian military base in Syria. The swarm was SWARM as follows: “Each swarm could have pressing after India’s decision to purchase the
out the attack. Iran has denied. Houthi rebels made up of 13 small drones packed with ex- dozens of individual drones. If detected, some Russian AS-400 air defense system. The S-400
in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the plosives. of the drones would be shot down, but the is reportedly very effective against even the
attack. Russia said it shot down seven drones sheer number of the swarm would overwhelm most modern fighter jets like the F-35.
The incoming low-flying small drones using anti-aircraft missiles while the other enemy defenses such as surface-to-air missile Pakistan does have low-flying terrain-
and missiles successfully evaded the US-sup- six were taken under control and landed by units to ensure a high probability of mission hugging cruise missile Babar but it is far more
plied sophisticated air defense system. The its military. Three of the drones survived the success”. expensive and problematic to use in a conven-
multi-billion dollar cutting edge American landing. China Drones Swarm tional war. Drone swarms offer a cheaper, bet-
military hardware mainly designed to deter The Russian government accused the Syr- At the conclusion of the Global Fortune ter and less problematic alternative to cruise
high altitude attacks has proved no match for ian rebels of launching the attack. Forum in Guangzhou, China last year, the missiles.
low-cost drones and cruise missiles used in a India’s Drone Swarm Plans event’s hosts set a world record for the largest (Riaz Haq is a Silicon Valley-based Paki-
strike that crippled its giant oil industry. A team of engineers and software experts drone swarm ever deployed. For 9 minutes, stani-American analyst and writer. He blogs at
Drone Swarms in Syria at India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics 1,180 drones danced and blinked out an aerial www.riazhaq.com)

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