By:

Commodore S.L. Deshmukh

31 October 2024 at 8:30:19 am

The Beam That Blinds the Drone

As cheap drones reshape the battlefield, India’s T-SHUL BEAM points to a future in which electronic warfare may matter as much as firepower The drone has definitively become the weapon of choice for the modern battlefield. Cheap, expendable and increasingly autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicles can now threaten troops, armour, airfields and critical infrastructure without requiring the attacker to risk a pilot. Their proliferation has created a corresponding demand for counter-drone systems...

min read

As cheap drones reshape the battlefield, India’s T-SHUL BEAM points to a future in which electronic warfare may matter as much as firepower The drone has definitively become the weapon of choice for the modern battlefield. Cheap, expendable and increasingly autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicles can now threaten troops, armour, airfields and critical infrastructure without requiring the attacker to risk a pilot. Their proliferation has created a corresponding demand for counter-drone systems that can respond quickly and at a cost proportionate to the threat. This is where beam-based anti-drone technology enters the picture. Broadly, such systems fall into two categories. Hard-kill systems use concentrated laser energy to physically damage or destroy a drone. Soft-kill systems, by contrast, use radio-frequency or electromagnetic energy to disrupt the electronic links that allow a drone to communicate, navigate and transmit information. Sophisticated Weaponry Hard-kill laser systems focus an intense beam of light on a vulnerable part of an incoming UAV - its carbon-fibre structure, control surfaces, battery or other critical components. The concentrated energy rapidly heats the target, potentially burning through its structure or disabling optical sensors and bringing the aircraft down. India’s DRDO has demonstrated a 30kW laser system, while Israel’s Rafael has developed the Lite Beam system. Soft-kill systems take a different route. Rather than physically destroying the aircraft, they interfere with the electronic architecture that keeps it airborne. Directional radio-frequency energy can disrupt command-and-control links, video feeds, telemetry and satellite-navigation signals such as GPS or other GNSS services. Depending on the drone and the nature of the disruption, the aircraft may be forced to land, return to its launch point or lose control. It is in this category that the T-SHUL BEAM system developed by Indian defence company IG Defence deserves attention. T-SHUL BEAM is a man-portable, directional counter-drone system designed for tactical deployment. Its multi-band radio-frequency architecture is intended to target several of the links on which unmanned aerial systems depend, including command-and-control, telemetry, video transmission and GNSS navigation. Its directional configuration allows an operator to concentrate electronic countermeasures on a particular aerial target rather than indiscriminately radiating energy across a large area. That matters on a battlefield where the warning time against a small UAV or first-person-view drone may be measured in seconds. The appeal of such a system is therefore not simply that it can counter a drone. It is that it can potentially bring counter-drone capability closer to the soldier and to the tactical edge. Large counter-UAS installations have their place, particularly around fixed and high-value assets. But forward units require systems that can move with them, be deployed rapidly and operate against small, low-cost unmanned platforms without imposing the logistical burden associated with conventional weapons. The T-SHUL BEAM’s significance also lies in its proposed integration with an artificial-intelligence-enabled battle-management architecture. IG Drones, the original equipment manufacturer, has stated that T-SHUL BEAM has been integrated with GRID, its indigenous AI-powered platform. The GRID architecture is intended to bring sensors, intelligence systems, unmanned platforms and command elements into a common operational framework. The attraction of such integration is obvious. Countering drones is increasingly less about a single weapon and more about the speed of the kill chain: detecting a threat, identifying it, deciding what response is appropriate and directing that response before the target disappears. An AI-enabled command architecture can potentially improve situational awareness, facilitate real-time threat detection and coordinate different systems operating simultaneously. This is particularly relevant as drone warfare evolves from isolated attacks towards increasingly complex and potentially swarming operations. A battlefield crowded with drones cannot be managed effectively if every sensor and weapon operates as a separate island. The advantage will increasingly belong to forces capable of turning disparate streams of information into a coherent picture and responding at machine speed. The T-SHUL BEAM’s reported demonstration at Pokhran represents another step in India’s attempt to build a domestic ecosystem spanning drones, counter-drones, artificial intelligence and electronic warfare. Counter-drone warfare is likely to be a recurring requirement rather than a niche capability. Importing every component of such an ecosystem would leave India vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions, technology restrictions and foreign-exchange pressures. Indigenous development, even when undertaken by relatively small private-sector companies, can broaden the country’s technological base and give the armed forces greater freedom to adapt systems to their operational requirements. Economics of the Contest Yet the real measure of any counter-drone system will ultimately be operational rather than promotional. Electronic warfare is inherently a contest between countermeasure and counter-countermeasure. Drone designers can alter frequencies, communications protocols, navigation methods and levels of autonomy. A system that is effective against one generation of drones may require modification against the next. The battlefield, in other words, will remain a technological arms race. The economics of the contest nevertheless favour directed-energy and electronic-warfare solutions. A conventional interceptor expends a missile or projectile against each target. A beam-based system can, subject to its power supply, engagement envelope and other operational constraints, engage targets without expending conventional ammunition. The marginal cost of an interception can consequently be dramatically lower. The beam also travels at effectively the speed of light, removing the flight time associated with kinetic interceptors. In densely populated areas or around sensitive infrastructure, bringing down a drone with a projectile can create its own hazards. Electronic disruption, when properly controlled, offers the possibility of neutralising the threat without sending an interceptor crashing back to earth. These advantages should not obscure the limitations. Soft-kill systems depend on the vulnerabilities of the target’s electronic architecture and may be less effective against increasingly autonomous drones that require fewer external communications. Weather, range, power availability, frequency management and the sophistication of an adversary's electronic countermeasures can all affect performance. No single technology is likely to provide a complete answer. The future of counter-drone warfare will therefore belong not to the beam alone but to layered defence combining. The emergence of systems such as T-SHUL BEAM suggests that India is beginning to build the technological pieces of that architecture at home. (The writer is a retired naval aviation officer and a defence and geopolitical analyst. Views personal.)

SS (UBT)’s inbox and outbox

Quaid Najmi

Jun 17

6 min read

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (UBT) is currently experiencing a second political earthquake in three years with an erosion of its base and a crisis of credibility, with a question mark over its future. A brief profile of the MPs in the current turmoil and those who remain loyal to ex-CM and party Chief Uddhav Thackeray.

SS (UBT)’s nine Lok Sabha MPs elected in 2024:

Anil Desai (Mumbai South Central), Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South), Bhausaheb Wakchaure (Shirdi), Nagesh Patil Ashtikar (Hingoli), Omprakash Nimbalkar (Dharashiv), Rajabhau Waze (Nashik), Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North East)

The ‘Dirty Half-Dozen’

Sanjay Dina-Patil: A two-time MP and seasoned Mumbai politician, Sanjay Dina Patil (57) is known for strong grassroots connect in eastern suburbs. His electoral journey started with the (undivided) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) when he won the Bhandup Assembly seat in 2004. He entered Lok Sabha in 2009 defeating Bharatiya Janata Party’s sitting MP, Kirit Somaiya (Mumbai North-East). In 2019, he joined the (undivided) Shiv Sena and remained loyal to Uddhav Thackeray even after the June 2022 split. He was re-elected in 2024, trouncing BJP’s Mihir Kotecha. Hailing from a political family, his father Dina Bama-Patil was a trade unionist and MLA, while his mother Manorama Patil served nine-terms as a BMC Municipal Corporator.

Sanjay Jadhav: Among one of Marathwada’s most experienced grassroots Shiv Sena leaders, Sanjay “Bandu” Jadhav is a two-term MLA and three-time MP from Parbhani. He came to prominence during Balasaheb Thackeray’s era, built a strong base in state politics before aspiring for a national role. He bagged Parbhani Lok Sabha seat in 2014, 2019 and 2024, but remained loyal to Shiv Sena (UBT) after the June 2022 split. His absence from certain key party meetings in recent times had fuelled speculation about his political plans, worrying the party top brass as Parbhani remained one of its strongest bastions in Marathwada for decades.

Sanjay Deshmukh: Vidarbha veteran politician Sanjay “Sanjubhau” Deshmukh boasts of a long and varied political career of over three decades, serving the party as its Yavatmal district President. However, he contested and won the Digras Assembly seat as an Independent in 1999 and 2004. He served as a Minister of State in the erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front governments headed by Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde. But after the 2022 Shiv Sena split, he returned to the Uddhav Thackeray faction that hugely boosted the party’s prospects in Vidarbha. Proving soothsayers right, he bagged the Yavatmal-Washim parliament seat as a SS (UBT) candidate, defeating Shiv Sena candidate Rajshri Patil in 2024.

Nagesh Patil Ashtikar: A Marathwada strongman with strong roots in the cooperative sector, Nagesh Bapurao Patil-Ashtikar first entered the Maharashtra Assembly in 2014, winning the Hadgaon seat in Nanded district as a (undivided) Shiv Sena candidate. Though he failed to repeat in the 2019 Assembly election, he remained at the forefront and contested Hingoli as a SS (UBT) candidate in 2024, trouncing Shiv Sena’s Baburao Kadam.

Bhausaheb Wakchaure: Bhausaheb Wakchaure, who represents the reserved Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency, is a familiar political figure in Ahilyanagar district and first entered Parliament in 2009 as a Shiv Sena candidate, defeating RPI(A) strongman Ramdas Athawale. Just before the 2014 elections, he switched to the Congress but lost the polls. A decade later in 2024, Wakchaure staged a smashing return as a SS (UBT) candidate, vanquishing MP Sadashiv Lokhande of Shiv Sena, to emerge as a key political player in the region.

Omprakash “Om Raje” Nimbalkar: One of the younger faces in state politics, Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Omraje Nimbalkar, 42, first won the Osmanabad Assembly seat in 2009 before spreading his wings in national politics. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he defeated Ranajagjitsinh Padamsinh Patil and remained with Uddhav Thackeray after the 2022 Shiv Sena split. He was re-elected from Osmanabad in 2024, crushing Archana Ranajagjitsinh Patil. As admitted by him, Nimbalkar’s political career has been shaped by a long-standing family feud - his father, Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar, was murdered in 2006. The sensational case led to the arrest of former minister Padamsinh Patil, a powerful relative and the murder trial verdict is awaited this weekend.

Left-over Loyalists

Arvind Sawant: Hailing from a middle-class family the now dapper Arvind Sawant joined student politics in 1968, then worked with the MTNL as an engineer and in 1995, he took VRS to join the (undivided) Shiv Sena. He was elected as MLC twice but lost in the third attempt and was fielded in the 2014 Lok Sabha from the prestigious Mumbai South when he defeated Milind M. Deora – ex-Congress central minister and currently a Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP – and later Yamini Jadhav of Shiv Sena in 2024.

He served briefly as a Union Minister under PM Narendra Modi before quitting to throw his lot with the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) formed after the 2024 Assembly elections. An educated face of the party, close to the Thackeray family and his proficiency in multiple languages, he served as the party Spokesperson.

Anil Desai: A low-profile long-time busy backroom boy of the (undivided) Shiv Sena and later, the SS (UBT) the sophisticated and soft-spoken Anil Desai is regarded as a close Thackeray family advisor, for his strategies, expertise in managing elections, legal matters and as a behind-the-curtains tactician. His prowess in managing the party’s resources and coining slogans like ‘UTha Maharashtra’ (Wake up, Maharashtra), he was rewarded with two terms in Rajya Sabha (2012-2018), and later given a Lok Sabha ticket in 2024 when he defeated Shiv Sena’s Rahul Shewale.

Rajabhau Waje: Hailing from an illustrious political family, Rajabhau Waje’s grandfather, Shankar Balaji Waje was a MLA (1962) from Sinnar, his grandmother Mathurabai Waje was the first woman Mayor of Sinnar Nagar Parishad in 1953, who later quit to plunge into the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement when she was jailed. Rajabhau Waje, active among the farmers, was elected as MLA in 2014 but lost the seat in 2019. In 2024, he was given a ticket by Shiv Sena (UBT) from Nashik in which he defeated Shiv Sena’s strongman Hemant Godse.

Raut alleges MPs are being offered Rs 50 crore to defect

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday alleged that some MPs from Maharashtra were being offered Rs 50 crore to switch sides, and challenged dissidents to quit.

Holding a press conference in New Delhi, Raut said the people of Maharashtra and Shiv Sena (UBT) workers would not remain quiet if there was another split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led party which saw a major rebellion led by Eknath Shinde in 2022.

Even as Raut adopted an aggressive tone, the fact that only three out of the nine Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha members Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waje attended the press conference suggested that the party was facing a grave crisis.

"I was told that the rate is Rs 50 crore, and Rs 15 crore each would be delivered by tonight. They (dissident MPs) were allegedly unwilling to board the aircraft (for Delhi) without receiving the money," he said.

"If parties are being broken in this manner, fighting elections is meaningless," he said.

All Sena (UBT) MPs were elected on the party's "mashal" (torch) symbol under Uddhav Thackeray's leadership, and "nobody has the right to betray that mandate", Raut said.

Warning of a strong response, he said Maharashtra and the Sena (UBT) workers would not remain silent if there was a repeat of the events of 2022 when the undivided Shiv Sena split.

"If anybody wants to leave, they should first resign. They have entered Parliament on our party's ticket," he added.

During the press conference, Raut also lost his cool and used expletives against rebel MPs twice without naming anyone. He asked the media "not to cut" or mute that part.

Notably, this is not the first time that Raut has used expletives at a press conference or in media interactions. He had asked mediapersons not to cut his expletives or mute them during the broadcast on such occasions.

These MPs were elected because of Uddhav Thackeray and late (Shiv Sena founder) Bal Thackeray, not because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said Raut.

"We have issued a whip and convened our parliamentary party meeting. We have also written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Buying and breaking elected representatives is against democracy and the Constitution. A legal battle will follow. It is not so easy. Anyone who thinks that a few people can gather and settle matters through money is mistaken," he said.

“The verdict in the 20-year-old murder case of the Om Raje Nimbalkar’s father was earlier scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday. He (Nimbalkar) was allegedly told that if he wanted a favourable verdict in the murder case of his father, he should join their group. If such things are happening, what remains of the (sanctity of) Constitution, the courts and democracy? Tomorrow's parliamentary party meeting will reveal the situation. Everyone has been invited and everyone should attend.”

Sanjay Raut, MP, Shiv Sena (UBT)

“If someone feels he is facing injustice, he can approach the party which has a system to listen to grievances and resolve them. There are people who have become MPs and MLAs multiple times. What more the party should give them? We are standing together and this (split) will not happen among MLAs.”

Rahul Patil, MLA, Shiv Sena (UBT)

“The people had voted against the BJP, but these MPs have disregarded that mandate and gone and sat in the BJP's lap.”

Varsha Gaikwad, President, Mumbai Congress