India�s Electronic Warfare Programme- Radars and Sensors Part I

Warfare has become complex with the addition of newer domains of engagement such as cyberspace, electromagnetic spectrum and outer space. Although technologies had been around for some decades to utilise these emerging domains but the ability to seriously exploit them for military applications has been made possible in the last fifteen years or so due to the revolution in IT, communications and electronics fields. Electronic Warfare (EW) relies on the principal that has been developed over time to exploit the opportunities and vulnerabilities that are inherent in the physics of Electro-Magnetic (EM) energy.The basic EW activities employed to support military operations involve detection, denial, deception, disruption, degradation, protection, and destruction of the EM space of the adversary while maintaining acceptable service levels of our own systems.More is heard about the cyberspace activities in India and little information trickles down regarding EM domain engagements.

During war or peace the most crucial aspects relate to surveillance, detection, location, targeting, communication, interception and counter measures to the same. The applicability of radars and sensors to these activities are indispensable. The inventory of radars maintained by the three services and coast guard are limited in functionality and quantity. The situation is aggravated by the fact the state of art stealth technologies in India are also at a very basic stage which renders most of critical equipment, infrastructure and communication open for malicious intent from our adversaries. The two fields have to develop in tandem to provide holistic EM domination to our forces. In the recent conflicts of the past involving USA the application of EW to degrade enemy’s air defence, missile and command-control systems is amply demonstrated as a force multiplier and as a predecessor to actual brute force invasion.The ability to intercept signals across the EM spectrum known as ELINT combined with the capability to classify and analyse signals to derive actionable intelligence from SIGINT will be crucial for developing strategic assets by our forces. Thus, the infrastructure and manpower relating to ELINT and SIGINT need to be upgraded urgently.

Radars and sensors will form the backbone of a holistic EW programme being pursued by India. The criticality of radars can be gauged from the fact that the first offset contract signed by India was for Medium Power Radars (MPRs).Arudhra was a MPR inducted into Indian Air Force in mid-2011 and was imported from Israel. DRDO is also working on an indigenous MPR known by the same name. The nodal agencies within DRDO which are working on these technologies are Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) Bangalore, Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL) Hyderabad, Electronics & Radar Development Establishment (LRDE)Bangalore and Centre for Airborne Systems CABS) Bangalore. The existing inventory of the three services possess considerable platform based radarshaving a range of 10-20km which is acutely limited when taking into consideration the average ranges of nearly 200 km for standard radars coupled with the advancements in the field of satellites, UAVs and AWACS which provide ranges of high orders of magnitude.

The radars/EW systems being developed or procured should have the following characteristics in order to be effective force multipliers:

a) Multifunctional and inter-operable with various platforms (for example variants of Rajendra Radar, originally built only for Akash system). Different categories of radars such as WLRs, BFSRs/LRFSRs, aerostats, UAV and satellite mounted should have ability to operate in the L to K band range.Need to integrate tri-service EW systems namely Samyukta(Army), Sangraha(Navy) and Tempest (Air Force) for information sharing and collaborative action.

b) Secure and jam-resistant communications with inbuilt robust Electronic Counter Counter Measures (ECCMs) to maintain healthy service levels. Power supply and cooling are other critical areas where industry can apply its expertise to deliver optimum performance. Emphasis should be on world class 3D and 4D radars.

c) EW Simulators–An example is the Class Room Electronic Warfare Simulator (CREWS) for training army personnel on ECM & ECCM Operations by Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL). EW technologies require highly trained and skilled Human Resource to fully utilise the systems and thus the role of simulators is indispensable. 

d) COMINT & Interception Systems- It should be able to intercept GSM, CDMA, HF to microwave frequency and satellite monitoring, with both active and passive systems

e) C4I systems & Missile support Systems- It is crucial for the success of India’s Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme. Linking of civilian radars to defence is also critical.

f) Encryption and Secrecy Systems- This is an area where India lacks compared to other countries. Focus needs to be on deciphering, frequency hopping and automatic switch control etc. for multi range communication needs. India can utilise its proficient software capabilities to provide for these coding/programming intensive activities. 

Domestic private industry also has a viable business case with its expertise in electronics, communication and IT. Commenting at the second international conference on electronic warfare (EWCI 2012) Dr.SrihariRao, Chief Controller (Electronics), DRDO said “A Rs 25,000crore business proposition awaits the country's public and private sectors in electronic warfare”. Of the total EW pie for the decade, Rs 10,000 crore each would go into modernising the Army and the Air Force while the Navy's systems would get the rest.Private players have already showcased their expertise in developing high end technologies such as Tata’s SED division which bagged during end 2011, a rare defence contract by being the lowest bidder in a $186 million contract to develop and supply two integrated electronic warfare systems for mountainous terrain (IEWS-MT) for the Indian Army.The software prowess of the country’s private and academic sector can also be utilised by the defence sector, as a large chunk of EW is based on the software component. An area which requires greater focus by the government and policy makers is the large scale manufacturing of electronic components. According to Mr. Y S Mayya, CMD of ECIL"Our strength lies in the design and the vast knowledge pool we have. But we are weak in the manufacture of quality components, have limited R&D participation from industry and there is poor translation from prototype of the idea to production". Mr. I V Sharma, Director of R&D at Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL)commented “The critical issues in strategic electronics are the denial of technology and transfer of only manufacturing know-how in deals, not technology know-how. Also R&D is mainly being done by DRDO and few PSUs and efforts of private sector are very limited”. The stated quotes summarise the state of affairs in India very aptly and the ability to mass produce technology demonstratorsdeveloped by DRDO would provide our Armed Forces with the much needed quality equipment on a timely basis. In case of Samyukta,nearly 40 micro, small and medium industries(MSMEs) enabled the quick realisation of the goal by developing and producing the sub components indigenously that had been denied by the advanced countries.MSMEs will also be very crucial to realising the goal of self-reliancethrough freedom from technology denial regimes.

The author is an Associate Fellow at Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS)

Views expressed are personal