Latest news with #HaropDrones
The Independent
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
What are the Israeli kamikaze drones India is accused of using against Pakistan?
The Pakistani military claimed on Thursday that India had used loitering munition drones to target multiple places, including major urban centres Karachi and Lahore. The military said in a statement they shot down 25 Harop drones using electronic countermeasures and physical force. 'The debris of Israeli-made Harop drones is being collected from different areas of Pakistan,' they added. In a televised briefing, military spokesperson Lt General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said drones were 'neutralised' in Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, and near Karachi. One drone, he said, 'partially' struck a military target near Lahore, injuring four soldiers and damaging equipment. 'As we speak, the process of India sending across these Harop drones, this naked aggression, continues,' he said. 'The armed forces are on a high degree of alert and neutralising them.' One drone reportedly also crashed in the village of Sarfaraz Leghari in Sindh province, killing a civilian and injuring another. Police confirmed the incident while eyewitnesses described the drone hovering over the area before being intercepted and falling near a canal. 'My brother Mukhtiar Ahmed, who was only 25, was martyred,' Jabbar Laghari, a teacher from the village, said. The Harop is a loitering munition, or kamikaze drone, developed by the Israel Aerospace Industries. The suicide drone has 'nine-hour endurance to seek targets in a designated area, locate and identify them, plan an attack route, then pursue the strike from any direction at a shallow or steep dive', according to its maker. It can be launched from sealed canisters aboard land and naval platforms. The drone carries a 23kg warhead and retains a man-in-the-loop feature, allowing human operators to abort attack or retarget mid-flight, according to the Hindustan Times. Harop's combat success was recognised during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, where it was used by Azerbaijan against Armenian forces, The Week reported. India reportedly bought over 100 Harop drones in 2021 to bolster defences along its borders with Pakistan and China. India has not officially responded to Pakistan's allegation of sending drones across. But the defence ministry claimed it had 'neutralised' drones and missiles launched from Pakistan to target sites in the north and the west of the country. The ministry also claimed to have targeted Pakistani air defence systems in a 'targeted and measured' retaliation. 'Our response was targeted and measured. It is not our intention to escalate the situation,' foreign minister S Jaishankar said during talks with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Thursday. 'However, if there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very, very firm response.' Amid diplomatic efforts to contain the conflict between the nuclear-armed South Asian nations, Iran has stepped in to mediate. Mr Araghchi, who visited Islamabad before arriving in New Delhi, said Tehran hoped 'the parties will exercise restraint to avoid an escalation of tensions in the region'. The Indian military launched a series of strikes on what it claimed was 'terrorist infrastructure' across Pakistan early on Wednesday. The attack, it said, was retaliation for the 22 April terror attack in Kashmir that left 26 civilians dead, mostly Hindu tourists. India has blamed the attack on Pakistan, which it has long accused of harbouring and backing separatist militancy in Kashmir, the restive Himalayan region that both countries claim in whole but control only in part. Pakistan said its military shot down five Indian fighter jets and a combat drone involved in the strikes, a claim dismissed as 'misinformation' by the Indian embassy in Beijing.
Arab News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan says shot down 25 drones, India says destroyed air defense system in Lahore
KARACHI: The Pakistan military said on Thursday it had shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones launched by India at multiple locations, while India said it had 'neutralized' Pakistan's attempts to strike military targets with drones and missiles. Fighting has escalated between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors since Wednesday when India said it struck nine 'terrorist infrastructure' sites in Pakistan, some of them linked to an attack by militants that killed 26 in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22. Pakistan said 31 people were killed in the Indian strikes and vowed to retaliate, subsequently saying it had shot down five Indian aircraft and a combat drone. The conflict between India and Pakistan has been confined in recent decades mostly to the disputed mountainous region of Kashmir. But the air strikes on Wednesday morning, which also hit the towns of Bahawalpur and Muridke in the heart of the country, were seen in Islamabad as a major escalation. Early on Thursday morning, reports started emerging from multiple Pakistani cities of explosions and firing, including the two largest cities of the country, Karachi and Lahore. The military's media wing subsequently confirmed that India was 'attacking Pakistan with Israeli-made Harop drones in panic.' The Harop is a standoff loitering munition attack weapon system designed to locate and precisely attack targets, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries. 'So far, 25 Israeli-made Harop drones have been shot down by the Pakistani army's soft kill (technical) and hard kill (weapons),' the army said in a statement. 'The debris of Israeli-made Harop drones is being collected from different areas of Pakistan.' In the context of military defense, hard kill refers to destroying or neutralizing an incoming threat, such as a missile or drone, by physically destroying it or its components. Soft kill, on the other hand, aims to defeat the threat by disrupting its guidance or communication signals, often using electronic countermeasures or decoys. One drone was shot down over the garrison city of Rawalpindi, military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a separate televised statement. Rawalpindi is home to the Pakistan army's heavily fortified headquarters. One drone hit a military target near Lahore, the capital and largest city of the province of Punjab, and the second-largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. Four personnel of the Pakistan army were injured in this attack, Chaudhry added. Other places where drones were neutralized were Gujranwala, Chakwal, Attock, Bahawalpur, Miano, Chor and near Karachi, which the country's largest city and commercial capital. 'As we speak, the process of India sending across these Harop drones, this naked aggression, continues, and the armed forces are on a high degree of alert and neutralizing them,' the army spokesman said. Earlier in the day, police reported a civilian casualty in the southern Sindh province, also confirmed by Chaudhry, when a drone crashed in the Sarfaraz Leghari village, located in Ghotki district. 'This morning, a drone fell over two villagers... killing one man and injuring another,' Senior Superintendent of Police Dr. Samiullah Soomro told Arab News over the phone, saying more details would be confirmed following a visit to the site. 'INDIAN RESPONSE' India's defense ministry said in a statement on Thursday Pakistan had launched an overnight air attack using 'drones and missiles,' before New Delhi retaliated to destroy an air defense system in Lahore. 'Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets ... using drones and missiles,' according to the statement, adding that 'these were neutralized' by air defense systems. New Delhi said areas targeted included sites in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, and India's Punjab state, including the key cities of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, as well as Bhuj in Gujarat state. 'The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations,' it added. The defense ministry said on Thursday morning its military had 'targeted air defense radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan,' saying the 'response has been in the same domain, with the same intensity, as Pakistan.' It added that it had been 'reliably learnt that an air defense system at Lahore has been neutralized.' Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has rejected the claims, saying there was no damage to air defenses in Lahore. Pakistani authorities have not yet commented on this. India also accused Pakistan of having 'increased the intensity of its unprovoked firing across the Line of Control using mortars and heavy caliber artillery' across the de facto border in Jammu and Kashmir India said the number of people who had been killed by Pakistani firing since the escalation of violence on Wednesday had risen to 16, including three women and five children. Speaking in parliament, Pakistani Information Ministers said Pakistan had killed 40-50 Indian soldiers and destroyed a brigade headquarter along the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides Kashmir between the two nations. The claims could not be independently verified. India and Pakistan have fought three wars in the past, two of them over Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part. Since April 22, they have intensified firing and shelling across the Line of Control. For decades India has accused Pakistan of supporting militants in attacks on Indian interests, especially in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan denies such support and in turn accuses India of backing separatist and other insurgents in Pakistan, which New Delhi denies. With inputs from AFP and Reuters
Economic Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
Drone attack in 9 Pakistan cities: Here's all about Israel-made Harop suicide drones that can stay in air for hours
Drone Attack: India claims that Pakistan air defence system was destroyed. Amid heightened tensions, Pakistan Army reported explosions in multiple cities, attributing them to Indian Harop loitering munition drones, showcasing wreckage as evidence. India's Defence Ministry acknowledged targeting Pakistani air defense systems in response to Pakistan's drone and missile attacks on Indian military targets, claiming neutralization by integrated defense systems. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Pakistan air defence system destroyed: India What are Harop Drones? Harop drones: Developed for high-value military targets Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Human-operated and cancel-capable system Range and operational use India has bought Israeli defense systems worth $2.9 billion The Pakistan Army on Thursday claimed explosions in several cities across Pakistan, including Lahore, Karachi, and Sialkot. Pakistan Army spokesperson claimed that the explosions were due to Harop loitering munition drones, amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. Army spokesperson said the drones were Harop loitering munitions and described the incidents as "a serious serious provocation." He showed pictures of the wreckage of the drones at a press a statement, India's ministry of Defence in a statement said: "Today morning Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised.""On the night of 07-08 May 2025, Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles. These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems. The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations that prove the Pakistani attacks," it is an attack drone developed by the MBT Missiles Division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). It is a loitering munition designed to hover over a battlefield and strike on command. The drone is capable of autonomous operation or remote control and can return to base if a target is not is a loitering munition developed by the MBT Missiles Division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). It combines features of a UAV and a missile. It is designed to identify, track and destroy high-value military targets such as tanks, radar stations, air defence systems, command centres, and supply drone is equipped with electro-optical sensors. These allow it to monitor targets such as surveillance posts and radar installations before striking. The drone crashes into its target and explodes on can search for targets over a span of nine hours. It flies within a set area, detects and identifies targets, plots an approach, and executes a strike from different angles. It does not require advance intelligence to carry out the operation. The drone also has resistance to GNSS jamming, which allows it to maintain communications in hostile missions are supervised through human-in-the-loop control. Operators can abort the attack if required. The drone can be launched from land or sea. It uses canisters mounted on military trucks or naval drones are launched from outside the battlefield and can fly up to 200 kilometres. As loitering munitions, they hover above hostile zones, wait for a target, and then dive into drone has been used in previous conflicts, including by Azerbaijan in the 2016 and 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh wars. It has also been used in Syrian conflicts, including a 2018 strike on a Syrian Air Defence SA-22 Greyhound and another attack in December and Azerbaijan are among the countries that have purchased the Harop system. Reports also indicate Turkiye may have started using it as early as has imported military hardware worth $2.9 billion from Israel over the last ten years. This includes radars, surveillance and combat drones, and missile systems. The Harop drone is among the systems purchased during this period.
