Aerial Alert : Shoot at sight order for flying objects around 10 kms of Nagpur airport

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Nagpur: As the Nagpur airport has attained the status of sensitive secured zone owing to the frequent arrival and departure of top politicians, particularly from BJP and RSS, the shoot at sight rule for any suspicious flying object around 10 km of the airport also applies here. It may be mentioned that the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) have been empowered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to neutralize sub-conventional aerial platforms like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), drones, para-gliders, parachutes and so on, if they are sighted in the civil airspace within 10km of the airport.

With the said diktat, the paramilitary force, which is entrusted with the security of the airports in India, now can shoot down any such vehicles or gadgets without requiring to employ any other measures to bring it down. The order was issued with the rising of the threat perception from the anti-Indian organizations and terrorists especially technically savvy operatives of Islamic State (IS).

An intelligence input of the possible aerial terror attacks by the terrorists using the sub-conventional aerial platforms had been already received by the government. In 2015, the then Minister of state had informed the parliament that the government was preparing a standard operating procedure for detection, identification and neutralization of threats from the sub-conventional aerial platforms. The minister had also informed the house that the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was also engaged in formulating a regulation for the certification and operation of the UAV.

CISF, it is learnt, has undertaken extensive efforts to groom its ground security personnel and also the top officials regarding the UAVs and such other types which can be used by the terrorist as a tool to launch an attack on their targets through remote-operated software fitted into them. Apart from theoretical trainings, the CISF has also engaged its personnel to groom the force to use sophisticated firearms and ammunitions commissioned especially to neutralize UAVs.