DRDO(defence Research And Development Organization

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<b>Electronic warfare system for Army nearing completion</b>
M. Somasekhar
Hyderabad, March 4, 2008

The Indian Army’s electronic warfare (EW) capabilities in the rugged and exacting semi-desert and border areas is close to get a decisive edge soon.

Come May, the Samyukta project, aimed to meet the country’s (EW) requirement partially, would be fully developed.

By November, the total system, being developed with an investment of about Rs 170 crore and large participation of industry, should be integrated with the user – the Indian Army, said Dr R. Sreehari Rao, Director of the Hyderabad-based, Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL).

<b>Samyukta is an integrated EW programme, being jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Army. It was launched several years ago with the DLRL, the key electronics lab under the DRDO, as the lead developer.</b>

Slowly but surely, in the face of sanctions and technical delays, Project Samyukta has, with the active support of a consortium of research institutes, public sector units such as Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) and corporates like CMC, Tata Power Corporation and over 40 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), come to a crucial stage of being offered in total to the Indian Army.

The project was to have been completed by end-2007.

<b>Project Samyukta is to develop an indigenous production base for futuristic integrated EW systems. It has communication and non-communication segments and the system is meant for mobile, tactical battlefield use</b>, the DLRL Director told Business Line.

The ground-based system is configured using 145 Tatra vehicles spread over a frontage of 100 km with 70 km depth. Each entity of the system can elicit intelligence across the borders up to and beyond 20 km.

Cross-country mobility is ensured in semi-desert terrains by use of Kolos Tatra vehicles.

<b>Experts say the system will ensure dominance over electro-magnetic spectrum, which means it will jam enemy surveillance signals and voice and radar signals while ensuring its own signals are not jammed by the enemy. It is described as a force multiplier.</b>

In January 2004, the DLRL handed over two blocks to the Indian Army, signalling a major milestone in its development. Once, the system is in place, the country would have EW systems for all the three defence forces — Samyukta (Army), Sangraha (Navy) and Tempest (Air Force).