The Defence Acquisition Council(DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday cleared a Rs 490-crore project for the navy to procure 260 software-defined radio sets for communications. These sets will ensure secure lines of communications between ships sailing in the sea as well as shore based installations.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with Defence Electronics and Applications laboratory, Dehradun indigenously designed the sets and Bharat Electronics limited(BEl), Bengaluru will manufacture them, officials said after the DAC meeting adding these sets will replace the old equipment deployed on ships.
They also said this is the first indigenously designed and developed software defined radio for the three Services. The technology will improve information sharing and situational awareness through secure voice communications and data transfer capabilities on board ships and ashore. Moreover, these advanced communication sets will enhance coastal security by relaying real-time information about any suspicious vessel to various security agencies part of maritime security grid.
