Indian Army's Mini UAV Loses Control, Drifts Into Pakistan
An Indian Army statement said that a mini unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on a training mission within Indian territory lost control and drifted into Pakistan’s Nikial Sector, opposite India’s Bhimber Gali Sector. The Army stated that the incident occurred at 9:25 am today due to a technical malfunction.
The Army, citing media reports, also said that the UAV has been recovered by Pakistani troops.
“A hotline message has been sent to the Pakistan Army requesting the return of the UAV,” the Indian Army’s statement added.
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The incident follows Wednesday’s “inadvertent release of an air store” from an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft near the Pokhran firing range area, due to technical malfunction.
The statement issued by the army had said that an enquiry was ordered to investigate it, adding that no damage to life or property.
Notably, an accidental firing of a BrahMos supersonic missile in 2022 had landed in Pakistan, which led the neighboring country to register protests against India. The Indian Air Force (IAF) later clarified that it was a human error that caused the unprecedented incident, attributing the incident to a technical malfunction during routine maintenance.
The IAF told that combat connectors of the Brahmos missile “remained connected to the junction box,” which led to accidental firing in Pakistan. While raising concerns about the technical errors, the incident caused a loss of Rs 25 crore to the government exchequer, according to the IAF. It also added that the incident caused a potential threat to any airborne, ground object, personnel and also caused damage to the reputation of Indian Air Force.
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The IAF’s Court later found Group Captain Saurabh Gupta, Squadron Leader Pranjal Singh, and Wing Commander Abhinav Sharma responsible for the incident.
