Drones have changed overground staff (OGWs) resulting from particular techniques, strategies, and operational modifications by the Inter-Providers Intelligence (ISI). The usage of drones changing overground staff (OGWs) in Jammu and Kashmir is Pakistan’s new strategic technique, which is a results of particular techniques, strategies and operational modifications hatched by the Inter-Providers Intelligence (ISI) and terrorist teams like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
A current intelligence report has delivered to the discover of officers that Pakistan and ISI have made operational modifications in terror actions in Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian safety forces’ crackdown on the phobia ecosystem, together with the arrest of almost 1000 overground staff (OGWs) in Jammu and Kashmir since 2020, has destroyed the human community of Pakistan and different terror handlers, in order that they have now began utilizing expertise to interchange people. Drones are actually getting used for weapons, logistics and communication with out placing human handlers in danger.
OGWs historically used to spy on routes, smuggle weapons, and keep contact with locals. Drones now deal with 70-80% of those duties, and OGWs have been restricted to minimal roles akin to native coordination in PoK.
Drones geared up with high-resolution cameras and night time imaginative and prescient (e.g., DJI Mavic 3 or modified Chinese language Wing Loong II) have been deployed to observe Indian border posts, particularly in Rajouri, Poonch, Kishtwar and Kupwara. These drones ship stay feeds of the Indian Military patrolling the borders to terror masters in PoK.
Hexacopters and quadcopters, now utilized by Pakistan with payloads of 5-20 kg, cross the border and drop AK-47s, grenades, IEDs and heroin. Greater than 200 such consignments have been destroyed by safety forces in Punjab and Jammu between 2023-2025.
Drones additionally information small terror teams of as much as 5 members to cross the LoC, avoiding Indian Military ambushes utilizing GPS and real-time photos.
In keeping with intelligence inputs, drones had been utilized in an ISI assembly held in Muzaffarabad (PoK) in Might 2025 to detect infiltration routes in high-altitude areas just like the Pir Panjal.
The drones used are modified DJI Mavic Professional and Phantom 4 drones costing $1,000-2,000, geared up with extended-range batteries and encrypted communication modules. They’re additionally suspected to be utilizing Chinese language Wing Loong II drones with a spread of 1,500 km and a payload of 200 kg, and probably Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones. These are launched from bases in PoK.
There are additionally studies of ESI-supported workshops in Pakistan that make drones with 3D-printed components, costing $500-1,500, that are then used for smuggling and surveillance. About 1,000 drone flights had been recorded alongside the worldwide border and Line of Management in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab in 2024-2025.
Related efforts are reported to have elevated in 2024-2025. The Punjab Police and BSF intercepted 75 drones in 2024, from which 150 kg of heroin, 50 AK-47s and 200 grenades had been recovered. In June 2025, a drone was intercepted in Rajouri and 5 kg of RDX belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed was recovered.
Reviews additionally recommend that the positioning of the drone assault was monitored earlier than the Pahalgam assault and weapons had been dropped. The drone can be stated to have mapped the goal space, and the crowded market, a number of days earlier than.
India has additionally now deployed an anti-drone system alongside the Line of Management. It makes use of radar, radio frequency jammers and laser-based neutralization. It’s 70% efficient towards drones however has problem detecting low-altitude (50 meters) UAVs.
Small drones flying beneath 100 meters can evade radars. The detection price of night time operations utilizing thermal cloaking is lowered by as much as 40%.
The ISI can be coaching terrorists in PoK to function drones, changing OGWs. The coaching camps in Kotli and Rawalkot concentrate on drone meeting and piloting. Intelligence studies say drone components and expertise are getting used from China.
Consultants say Pakistan blames “non-state parts” for drone actions and avoids direct duty regardless of the ISI’s involvement. Over the previous three years, 300 kg of narcotics, over 100 rifles, 500 grenades and 50 kg of explosives dropped by drones alongside the borders have been recovered.
Drone-based actions by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir are actually a critical and rising safety problem for Indian safety forces.
Consultants opine that drones geared up with high-resolution cameras and night time imaginative and prescient could make it simpler to plan infiltrations and assaults precisely by offering real-time details about the positions of Indian troops, patrol routes and border outposts.
As well as, drones can ship small however highly effective payloads (5-20 kg), together with AK-47s, grenades and RDX, on to terrorists in distant areas such because the Pir Panjal and Shamsawari forests. Greater than 200 such weapons had been seized in 2024-2025, however it’s estimated that 30% stay undetected.
Changing OGWs with drones eliminates the chance of human terrorists being captured or killed, thereby securing Pakistan’s terror ecosystem.
The rugged terrain, dense forests and excessive altitudes of the Jammu and Kashmir borders and the Line of Management present safety to low-flying drones, that are tough to detect beneath 100 meters.
In keeping with studies, drones additionally ship logistics to terrorists hiding in these areas, permitting their operations to last more. There are over 20 drone launch websites in Kotli, Bagh and Mirpur in PoK, that are inside 10-50 kilometers of the Line of Management, making quick flights potential.
These drones function day and night time, and 60% of the flights use thermal cloaking or low-altitude flight to evade radars, severely affecting the response functionality of safety forces. In view of the frequent intrusions by drones, over 1,000 BSF and Military personnel are actually engaged in drone surveillance in Jammu and Kashmir.
Reviews additionally recommend that in response to intelligence estimates, drones have elevated profitable infiltration by 20% in 2025, and 50-60 terrorists have entered Jammu and Kashmir. The assist supplied by drones can allow terrorists to proceed their actions for weeks from hideouts positioned on excessive Parvati terrain, as seen within the encounters in Kishtwar and Rajouri in 2025.