“Using the device, hidden bombs beneath the dirt tracks or 'pucca' roads could be identified and safely defused, thereby saving troops from being killed or maimed by its explosive impact,” said CRPF Director General (DG) K Durga Prasad during his pre-retirement interaction with the media.
The robot designed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, will assist the forces in diffusing improvised explosive devices and land mines from remote locations. Attached with a high resolution camera, the robot will also be able to remotely peep into structures under insurgents’ siege to provide a reliable headcount. It can also be used to plant explosives into structures where insurgents are holed up during an encounter.
The Indian Army was the country’s first armed force to incorporate robotics in warfare. The Daksh series of robots designed by the state owned Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is equipped with six axis telescopic manipulator arm with high resolution cameras apart from its modular flipper-based design which enables it to overcome obstacles and climb stairs.
Left wing extremism is India’s biggest internal security threat. The Maoist rebels, also locally referred to as Naxalites, have been engaged in a bloody war with the Indian state with the ultimate aim of creating an alternative governing structure in India in the so called “red corridor”, which refers to the entire Maoist-infested region in India and corresponds to a contiguous region from Nepal to northern fringes of Tamil Nadu, covering at least ten states including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The strength of insurgents includes 15000 armed cadre and 2 Lakh unarmed cadre.
The rebels launch what they call “Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign” (TCOC) targeting the armed forces and strategic structures like the railways every year in the period between March and July. The aim of such “TCOC” is to exhibit and consolidate their strength, by carrying out violent operations.
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