Battlefield Eye

Atul Chandra

The Indian armed forces have large requirements for a wide range of battlefield surveillance radars and weapon locating radars. The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has been able to successfully develop a series of radars in this category, which are now in production with state-owned defence Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

BEL’s weapon locating radar

Today, there is a need for mobile, modular and interconnected sensor networks to provide soldiers on the battlefield with the required situational awareness. New generation advanced battlefield radars with detection ranges are lighter and more portable, require less power, and are far more maintenance friendly.

The next-generation of mobile lightweight Indian military radars will require greater participation from the Indian private sector in terms of design and development, production and life-cycle support and upgrades. Leveraging the capabilities of the Indian private sector will allow the DRDO and the BEL to focus on larger and more expensive strategic systems for the Indian armed forces.

At present, the Indian Army has a growing requirement for Low Level Light Weight Radars (LLLWR), which are mobile radars with a range of 50 km that can be transported by animal carts/trucks/helicopters for deployment in difficult terrain. The large requirement by the Indian armed and paramilitary forces for mobile lightweight radars also means that there are sufficient volumes available to make a business case for Indian private sector firms.

The Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) was awarded a Buy & Make (India) contract in 2017 by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the supply of 31 Surface Surveillance Radars (SSR) for the Indian Navy. In March 2019, the company bagged another order from the navy for 23 ship borne 3D C/D Air Surveillance Radars (ASR) and related spares under the Buy & Make (India).

The TASL is now manufacturing a complete military radar at its Noida facility, India’s first such assembly in the private sector. It has also successfully absorbed the manufacturing Transfer of Technology (ToT) for the SSRs from Terma A/S, Denmark, its foreign technology partner, and localised majority of the parts for the radar system. The TASL is supplying these radars for coastal surveillance and will provide maintenance, long term obsolescence management to the Indian Navy for these radars.

Emerging Requirement

In December 2022, the Army Air Defence (AAD) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire 40 units of a new Low Level Light Radar (Improved)--LLTR I--out of its authorisation of 54 such systems. The requirement for the LLTR I has arisen due to the rapid infrastructure improvements undertaken by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along with People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) to enhance its capability to operate in India’s