BANGALORE: Electronic Warfare (EW) systems are poised to play a lead role in combating low-intensity conflict (LIC) in India.
U K Revankar, president of Association of Old Crows (AOC) India Chapter, an organisation of top EW brains, told Express on Saturday that the sooner India embraces latest EW technologies, the better it will be equipped to tackle LIC in future.
“The importance of EW is ever increasing with the systems becoming more complex and sophisticated. The EMS-based technologies are essential for the internal security of our country. The defence R&D, system integration process, production of EW systems and field operational ro les with our Armed Forces have to be at a bigger pace,” Ravankar, said.
He said the EW domain in India must expand both technologically and commercially to support the Armed Forces. “While indigenisation of the EW systems, their production and induction should be encouraged with explicit timelines, the country must also acquire the best EW practices from across the globe,” Ravankar said.
He said with further support of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Ministry of Defence, the AOC can evolve a ‘standard for EW systems development’ in India. A T Kalghatgi, Director (R&D), Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), told Express that the engineering challenges in EW domain is growing rapidly. “Miniaturisation of systems with greater digital capabilities have become the norm in modern warfare. There are many areas we need to ramp-up our competences, including performance testing,” Kalghatgi said.
He said the modern EW systems will have to be software-intense and fault-free, enabling an upper hand to the user.
He said as the lead technology integrator for a number of advanced weapon platforms of the Armed Forces, the BEL has already made inroads in the field of EW systems. “We are progressing steadily with a `1,000-crore investment plan,” he added.
S S Sundaram, Director General, DRDO said the EW systems act as a force-multiplier to the Armed Forces. “New EW techniques like chip-jamming have taken centrestage now. The US has an integrated cyber warfare programme and we too are in the race to be among the best in the world,” he said. On Saturday, Sundaram gave away AOC awards to eight individuals for their contributions to the EW systems.