For quite sometime now, there has been an animated debate on the feasibility of using armed forces to put an end to the menace of Naxalites groups which have been on a killing spree especially in the mineral rich, poorly developed and densely forested Chattisgarh region of the country. However, developmental strategists are of view of that improving the lot of the tribals and other under-privileged sections of the society living in areas under the influence of Maoist insurgents, holds the key to this festering problem rooted in socio-economic realities. Even so, there is also an opinion in favour of quick, surgical strikes against the Naxalite hideouts by the army units specializing in  guerrilla and  jungle warfare—with the  close air support from the Indian Air Force(IAF)—for restoring the civil administration aimed at facilitating developmental work in the areas under the ‘shadow of red terror’.

In fact, following the proposal to expand air support for the anti Naxalite operations, IAF had suggested to the Government of India that its 15 choppers deputed for the UN peace keeping missions in three African countries maybe called back. For with most of the IAF helicopters being deputed in the trouble torn Kashmir Valley and insurgent ridden north eastern parts of India, a shortage of helicopters is very much in evidence. Against such a scenario, not long back, India’s Home Ministry had mooted the idea of importing helicopters from the global defence and aerospace market.

Of course, the IAF has been lending its choppers for the timely deployment and quick evacuation of Para-military forces operating in Naxalite infested areas of the country. IAF had even sought the permission of the Government of India to fire in self defence after one of its choppers had come under fire from Naxalites. Not long back, IAF Chief PV Naik had expressed his reservation on the feasibility of involving IAF in the ongoing battle against Naxalites. As pointed out by Ajay Lele, a Research Fellow at the New Delhi based think-tank, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), the biggest problem that IAF would face in fighting the Naxalites is the availability of accurate intelligence. “This is extremely important because visual identification of the target from the air is not possible with the region being a jungle area. Another major problem would be that of collateral damage,” observes Lele. Clearly and apparently, the innocent civilian population in the areas under siege cannot be insulated from the possibility of damages and loss of lives.

Against this backdrop, the idea of using data from high resolution satellites being  operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) for identifying the Naxalite hideouts in the depths of the forests and also monitoring their movement, appears both sound and practical. Moreover, it has a non invasive angle to it. Perhaps the 300kg RISAT-II microwave remote sensing satellite launched in April 2009 could come in handy to keep an eye on the Naxalite groups in various parts of the country. But then the intelligence agencies working in Naxalite infested zones should be properly trained to make use of the satellite data in tandem with the ‘ground truth’ for effectively zeroing on Naxalites. Indeed using satellite data for ‘surveillance and intelligence’ is a better option as compared to the deployment of aircrafts for ‘intelligence gathering’ in Naxalite dominated zones.

All said and done, India’s Defence Minister AK Antony is clear on the question of using armed forces to fight Naxalites. “Whether in West Bengal or any other areas, our view is that employing armed forces for internal security is the last resort,” says Antony.

Away from the heat and dust of the debate on the means to counter the Naxalite menace, India’s state owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is looking at a new cutting edge weapon designed to take the wind out of the sails of the Naxalites. The strategy of the DRDO is to deploy highly sensitive radar offered by the Swedish defence and aerospace outfit Saab, on-board the home-grown Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) for identifying the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) used widely and extensively by Naxalites. The IED, which can be conveniently detonated by a remotely operated device, has been responsible for the killing of 60% of the Para-military personnel in Naxalite dominated areas. The movement of security personnel in the Naxalite infested areas with IED devices is a dangerous and hazardous proposition. Additionally, the rigorous and painstaking manual search for IEDs had caused several deaths.

The CARABAS (Coherent All Radio Band Sensing) radar that DRDO plans to fit into Dhruv in partnership with Saab would enable the scanning of wide swaths of territory to detect the IEDs buried underneath the ground. This low frequency radar can easily detect man made metallic objects even when they are buried 5-6 metres below the ground. Strategic analysts believe that this innovative radar is particularly useful in jungle terrain since the exceptionally low frequency waves from the device ignore vegetation and focuses only on man made objects.  Incidentally, Saab is also in the race to bag the mega Indian defence order for the supply of 126 medium, multi role combat aircrafts to the IAF.