“Space is being used to enhance combat capabilities in other domains – land, sea, air and even cyber…The military applications of space is the dominant discourse from which we cannot remain divorced,” Chauhan said at the Indian DefSpace Symposium 2023 jointly organised by Indian Space Association (ISpA) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

He said the invasion of the space domain by commercial enterprises as seen during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the intense race towards the militarization of space had resulted in expansion of battlespace, with the nature warfare being on the cusp of a major transformation.

“The aim for all of us should be developing dual-use platforms with special focus on incorporating cutting-edge technology and we must expand our NavIC constellation, provide agile space-based ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), and ensure secure satellite-assisted communications,” he said.

NavIC, or Navigation with Indian Constellation, refers to a regional navigation satellite system established by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Chauhan’s comments came days after Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari called for building offensive and defensive space capabilities to safeguard assets, while stressing that the race to weaponize space had already started, and the day was not far when the next war would be fought across land, sea, air, cyber and space. The IAF chief said India needed to capitalise on its initial successes in space and prepare itself for the future.

The CDS spoke about the need to explore the field of miniaturization of satellites and reusable launch platforms to mitigate cost, challenges and accelerate the pace of augmenting India’s space-based capabilities. “The populating of space domain and the emergence of dynamic threat environment to our space assets also demands that we enhance our space situational awareness capability. There’s also a requirement to safeguard our assets with counter space capabilities. We must build resilience and redundancy in a space-based infrastructure.”

He spoke about the need to build offensive and defensive space capabilities in the context of strides made by Russia and China in the sector.

DRDO chief Samir V Kamat said the organisation has sharpened its focus on the space domain, including space-based surveillance, situational awareness and protecting space-based assets.

“Space is the next frontier that requires our attention. We have mastered basic space technologies, but the number of satellites must go up significantly as we are far behind China on this front,” Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd), director general, Centre for Air Power Studies, earlier said.

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Unlike the Indian Air Force and the navy, the army currently does not have a dedicated satellite.

“The satellite will considerably enhance the communication capability of the army by providing mission critical beyond line-of-sight communication to troops and formations as well as weapon and airborne platforms,” the defence ministry said.

The five-tonne geostationary satellite will be developed indigenously by ISRO. The army is likely to get the satellite in 2026, the officials said.

The satellite with advanced security features will support tactical communication requirements of not only troops deployed on the ground, but also remotely piloted aircraft, air defence weapons and other mission critical and fire support platforms, the officials said.

“The dedicated satellite for the army is a long-standing need and will enhance the network centric warfare capabilities of the army, making them more secure and jam-proof. The army was so far dependent on the air force’s GSAT-7A satellite,” said Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd), director general, Centre for Air Power Studies.

The army has also carried out a detailed study of cyber and electromagnetic warfare in the Russia-Ukraine war, and established the efficacy of a reliable satellite communication system that can provide high-speed internet services to remote areas, as previously reported by HT.

India’s defence acquisition council (DAC), the government’s top weapons procurement body, had cleared the army proposal for a GSAT-7B satellite in March 2022 to sharpen its operational capabilities. The GSAT-7 series of advanced satellites built by ISRO are designed to provide communication capabilities to users over vast expanses including oceans.

Many parts and sub-assemblies and systems of the satellite will be sourced from indigenous manufacturers, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups, the ministry said, adding that the project will generate an employment of around 300,000 man-days over the next three-and-a-half years.

The ministry also signed two other contracts worth around ₹2,400 crore with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to sharpen the air defence capabilities of the armed forces.

The first of these, worth ₹1,982 crore, is to implement Project Akashteer, an automated air defence control and reporting system that will allow the army’s air defence units to operate in an integrated manner.

Akashteer will enable the monitoring of low-level airspace over the battle areas of the Indian Army and effectively control the ground-based air defence weapon systems, the defence ministry said.

The second contract worth ₹412 crore with BEL is for Sarang electronic support measure systems for Indian Navy helicopters.

All the three projects will provide a boost to the self-reliance campaign as they are under the most important category of acquisition for indigenisation under the defence procurement policy, or the Indian-IDDM category. IDDM stands for indigenously designed, developed and manufactured.

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The biennial event which completed its 14th edition in Bengaluru witnessed the largest participation of the contingent from the United States of America for the first time ever in Aero India.

Aerobatics performed by the metal birds enthralled the onlookers who had gathered in huge numbers on the last day at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in the city. India’s indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, light combat helicopters and light utility helicopters developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited were part of the show.

Besides, Rafale jets and Sukhoi aircrafts put up an impressive show during the event.
However, the most notable was the presence of F-35, B-1B Lancers, the F-16 and F-18 which too participated in the show.

Sorties by vintage aircrafts, aerobatics by Surya Kiran team of the IAF, which flew the Hawk aircrafts and Sarang (meaning peacock in Sanskrit) display team of the IAF using the HAL developed Dhruv helicopters left the audience spellbound.

The five-day event saw a number of seminars such as Manthan and Bandhan where deliberations were held on a range of subjects including India’s self-reliance programme, indigenous development of futuristic aerospace technology, India’s space initiatives, advancement in maritime surveillance system, investment opportunities in Karnataka.

There was a huge turnout at the exhibitions and displays by various companies during the show. The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Indian Space Research Organisation, Bharat Electronics Limited, Defence Research and Development Organisation were among those who put up their stalls.

As many as 266 partnerships including 201 MoUs, 53 major announcements and nine product launches were firmed up at the Aero India that could unlock business potentials worth around Rs 80,000 crore. The MoUs included one between Hindustan Aeronautics and Safran Helicopter Engines of France for work share for formation of joint venture for design, development, manufacture and life time support of helicopter engines.

The agreements and the MoUs were formally signed at an event titled “Bandhan” ceremony that was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, top leaders of Indian defence industries and senior military officials.

“The Bandhan ceremony also witnessed the forging of 266 partnerships including 201 MoUs, 53 major announcements, nine product launches and three Transfers of Technology (ToT), worth around Rs 80,000 crore,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

The Bharat Electronics Ltd and Aeronautical Development Agency also inked an MoU for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). The product launches at Aero India included the vertically launched short range surface-to-air missile (Bharat Dynamics Ltd).

It is a next-generation, ship-based, all-weather, air defence weapon which can be used by the Navy as a quick reaction defence against supersonic sea skimming targets such as aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The missile has a smokeless propulsion system with all-weather capability. It has a highly agile configuration with state-of-the-art electronic counter-measures features.

Another significant product launch was of the semi-active laser seeker based anti-tank guided missile developed by Bharat Dynamics Limited. The missile weighs 23 kgs with the launch tube, and can be used in different kinds of terrains to incapacitate moving and stationary targets such as tanks and infantry combat vehicles.

Another major landmark at the Aero India 2023 was the participation by Israel this year which marked 30 years of Indo-Israel defence collaboration. SIBAT, the International Defence Collaboration Directorate of the Israel Ministry of Defence, is in charge of fostering defence cooperation between Israel and India. The show saw the demonstration of some defence technologies developed by Israel including Air Defence Systems, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), Aerial and Ground Precise Guided Munitions, Electronic Warfare (EW) Systems, Land and Naval Solutions, Avionic Systems, Air and Missile Defence Systems.

In a major boost to indigenous defence industry, the CMD of Munitions India Limited, Ravi Kant said that the company has got orders for more than 10 lakh multi-mode grenades for Indian armed forces and over Rs 3,000 crores of orders for exports.

The 14th edition of Aero India at the Yelahanka Air Force station complex on the outskirts of Bengaluru was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 february and it saw participation of over 700 defence firms and representatives of around 100 countries.

The defence minister said that Aero India showcased to the world the ‘New Defence Sector’ of ‘New India’, which has not only grown in the last few years, but is now fully ready to walk alongside the defence sectors of leading countries.

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The DRDO operates with 8,000 scientists and about 50 laboratories and has an annual budget of about Rs 20,000 crore. Traditionally, the DRDO chief has held the post of secretary-R&D in addition to the post of scientific advisor to the defence minister. The Prime minister’s Office (PMO) is spearheading the change, which is aimed at achieving better efficiency and ease of functioning of the DRDO. However, some believe it’s an attempt by the ‘IAS lobby’ to take control of the premier defence research agency and maintain its supremacy in MoD.

 “Bifurcating the post of DRDO chairman and secretary-R&D appears to be the need of the hour as the DRDO’s track record of meeting project deadlines has not been up to the mark. With lesser responsibility, the DRDO chairman will be able to devote more time and energy on defence programmes,” said a senior MoD official, adding that the success of any defence project depends on finance, utilisation of manpower and efficient movement of file within the bureaucracy.

In August this year, the Union government appointed scientist Samir V. Kamath as the new DRDO chief. Kamath took over from G. Satheesh Reddy, who was given the responsibility of scientific advisor to the defence minister. The Modi government had bifurcated the two posts in 2015.

The broad impression is that defence scientists are experts in taking technical decisions but not well-versed with financial and other administrative matters, and that this often leads to project delays. Also, DRDO labs have to depend on cadre from the Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services for financial and administrative tasks.

Another senior MoD official said a bureaucrat holding the post of secretary-R&D can manage administrative and financial tasks better than a scientist. He proposed that DRDO be managed on the lines of other scientific institutions such as ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre).

It is perceived that the reason for a large number of scientists approaching the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and high courts to challenge their service rules or appointments is their limited understanding of administrative matters. Moreover, by bifurcating the DRDO chief’s post, the government wants to have a holistic approach towards the private sector when it comes to R&D. In the current Union budget, the government has earmarked 25 per cent of R&D funds of MoD for the private industry, start-ups and academia.

The Narendra Modi government has taken several measures to boost indigenous defence manufacturing, through initiatives such as Aatma Nirbhar Bharat, and boost defence exports. MoD has set an ambitious defence exports target of Rs 35,000 crore by 2025.

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Indra and Centum Electronics will “undertake together the statement of work of the programme, namely the manufacturing, installation, integration, and testing of the radar”, Jaime Temes, international commercial director for defence at Indra told Janes .

The radar that will be manufactured by the two companies will be based on Indra’s S3TSR radar, Temes said.

The S3TSR is a ground-based active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar operating in L band, Temes said.

The S3TSR radar is “capable of providing positional information of orbital objects by means of space surveillance”, and has been “in operation by the Spanish Air Force since 2018”, he added.

The S3TSR radar “operates in a quasi-monostatic configuration, which implies that the transmission (TX) and reception (RX) antennas are separated by a relatively short distance [80–200 m] ”, Temes told Janes . “The system is composed by two types of buildings – a TX building and a RX building, which hold the power amplifiers based on GaN transistors. They offer much higher reliability and efficiency figures [therefore, lower power consumption and operational costs] than previous conventional technologies,” Temes said.

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Speaking at the inauguration of Aero Innovation and Skill Centre (AISC) in Bengaluru, Reddy said: “As far as the drone sector is concerned, India is working on its application in defence and civilian sectors. We need to hand-hold the youngsters to boost innovations and the AISC is a way forward. The government is clear that everything should be made in the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call is very clear that we should make world-class products so that the world looks up to us. Today, in the defence and aerospace sectors, there are products which we earlier used to import but are now being made here.”

A part of the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), AISC Bengaluru will facilitate aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups to conduct research and development in aerospace sectors. Around 15-20 start-ups will be part of the AISC as of now. The start-ups and entrepreneurs will be mentored by experts from the DRDO, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), officials said.

The DRDO chairman added that most IIT graduates used to go abroad for higher education and job opportunities even a decade ago, but around 75 per cent graduates are now opting to stay back in India and work in several sectors, such as aerospace and defence technology, among others.

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