Beating China at their own game: Indian Army is using Chinese cameras to spy on Chinese drones

Attack drones and cameras drones have become a huge menace for the Indian armed forces, whether you consider drones being used by Pakistan, or by China. Most of these drones come from China and have been a major concern for the Indian Army. So, to combat this onslaught of drones, the Indian Army had to do something. What they ended up doing, is ingenious, inspiring and downright brilliant.

The Indian army is going to use China’s own weapon against them. The Indian Army, will fight Chinese drones, using camera modules sourced from China.

The Indian Army showcased how it has developed a new drone-hunting system which uses high-resolution spy cameras and black kites which have been trained by the military. The new hunting system, which is meant to be deployed for surveillance along our border with China, was unveiled at a US-India bilateral military exercise, where the armed forces also did a demonstration with it.

The black kite has a small but powerful spy camera mounted on its head using a specially designed brace. The camera will be used to detect and neutralize Chinese drones. While most of the design for the implementation of the tech has been developed in India, the spy camera that is being used with these kites are made in China.

A Eurasian Times report suggests that the spy camera which the Indian Army is using on these kites is being sourced from a Chinese manufacturer. The report also stated that a close-up photo of the bird showed the logo of the camera’s manufacturer. Apparently, the camera system is manufactured by a company called FX, which is reportedly based in Shenzhen and specializes in designing and manufacturing wireless backup camera systems.

“The FX798T Micro FPV Camera and 5.8GHz 40CH 25mW VTX is extremely small and could be installed on almost anything. The unit is ultra-lightweight, so it is easy to place on any aircraft without affecting the centre of gravity,” said the Eurasian Times, quoting an e-commerce website.

Colonel Sudhir Chamoli, a spokesman for the Indian Army, explained how the idea to train kites as India’s “new anti-drone systems” came to be in 2020 and how soon the idea was implemented.

The kites have been trained by the Remount Veterinary Corps Center, and are able to perform some basic surveillance roles. They will mainly be used to relay images of unfriendly territories. The kites have also been fitted with a GPS tracker, which allows it to be tracked by its handler. This allows the kite to work in tandem with a team of military dogs that will be deployed near the kite. Once a drone is located, the kite uses its sharp claws to bring it down, which is then collected by the dog and his handler to be analysed.