Indian Navy equipping warships with ‘Made in India’ tech

New Delhi: In a major move towards Aatmnirbhar Bharat, Indian Navy has started equipping its warships with cutting edge ‘Made in India’ software-defined radio (SDR). The indigenous SDR is equipped with several multimedia capabilities, and provides real-time voice, data and video information.

The Navy’s Weapons and Electronics Systems Engineering Establishment (WESEE) has indigenously designed and developed three types of SDRs – SDR NC, SDR-Tac (tactical), and SDR-NG. A fourth variant is in the developmental stage and is expected to undergo testing by next year.

The SDR Naval Combat (NC) has already been fitted in all Navy warships and is reportedly functioning well. The Software-Defined Radio Tactical (SDR-Tac) has been installed in most of the warships. The Navy entered into a contract to procure this device with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in 2021. The deal is worth over Rs 1,000 crore.

A software-defined radio (SDR) system is a radio communication system which uses software for the modulation and demodulation of radio signals. An SDR performs significant amounts of signal processing in a general purpose computer, or a reconfigurable piece of digital electronics. The goal of this design is to produce a radio that can receive and transmit a new form of radio protocol just by running new software.

WESEE DG Rear Admiral Ankur Sharma said, as WESEE strides into its fourth decade since its establishment, its most rewarding achievement lies in its dynamic capability to keep pace with the evolving world and proactively embrace cutting-edge technologies for upcoming Navy projects.

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