Tech Infusion

Vijay Ananth

Present situation of world order is a dichotomy of exciting and challenging times for the defence and aerospace sectors.

Starting from spears and arrows, defence technology has gone through multiple evolution to provide a secure world for common citizens. The latest change in war tactics and technology in defence are the use of flying drones, RADARs and Electronic Warfare (EW) for quick and effective impact, instead of foot soldiers and artillery tanks. Armed drones are today replacing the foot soldiers for faster, deeper attacks providing no time for opponents to react. This has led to urgent need for modernization of defence such that such threats can be detected quickly and neutralized. As per law of nature, there will be always a predator for every species, requirements for anti-drones systems have become the buzz in the armed forces to empower them to counter such attacks.

Anti-drone systems consist of RADAR and passive (EW Jammers) or active (Guns, Laser etc) neutralizing systems. Counter measures like EW Jammers and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) systems are now demanded in more quantities to get the advantage of early detection without exposing our surveillance location and counter capabilities to enemies.

Both RADAR and EW systems are undergoing a massive technological advancement with the help of next generation hardware, software, and firmware.

Next generation hardware includes, superior materials, advancement in chip technologies, element level beam forming, quantum computers and SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) optimized systems. Ability to track multiple targets across frequencies has added higher probability of detection, pinpointed direction accuracy and trajectory calculations. Portable drone detection RADARs, Multi Frequency Air Defence Fire Control RADARs (ADFCR) and Airborne Fire Control RADAR (AFCR) with wide coverage, Wide band and higher bandwidth SIGINT syst