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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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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When launched, this will be the Army’s first exclusive communication satellite that will act as a force multiplier and fail-safe communication support to the force as it moves deeper into network-centric warfare scenario.

The GSAT 7B satellite, which has been a long pending demand of the Army, will be launched in the next two-three years and provide integrated communication, not just within the force but also the other two Services — Navy and Air Force.

The satellite will cost Rs 4,635 crore and there would be two units of it. One would be operationalised in space while the other would be on ground, sources said.

The Army is also looking at procuring satellite-linked drones and having a dedicated satellite will be key for operations.

In November last year, the DAC cleared an Indian Air Force (IAF) proposal for the GSAT-7C satellite.

Currently, the force uses GSAT-7A (also known as ‘Angry Bird’), which was launched in 2018. While this is a dedicated satellite for the IAF, the Army uses about 30 per cent of its capacity.

The satellite connects various IAF platforms like aircraft, choppers, drones, airborne early warning and control system and radars, among others. This was the second dedicated satellite for the Indian military after the GSAT-7, which was launched in 2013 for the Navy.

Known as Rukmini, the GSAT-7 is the primary communication link for all naval operations.

India uses its own satellites and those of friendly nations, besides commercial ones, to keep track of developments at its borders, especially the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

In February this year, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C52 successfully launched EOS-04 Satellite, an earth observation system, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

As warfare becomes increasingly tech-oriented, with seamless and secure networked communication being a key element, multiple satellites are required in the next two-three years.

This is not the first time that ISRO’s capabilities are being used by the government department for high-tech surveillance. Previously, in a bid to keep an eye out on the oil and coal theft from freight trains, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has come out with its latest technology to keep a check in this regard. The latest surveillance technology will also be used to monitor the movement of passenger trains giving another boost to their safety.

Before the freight monitoring satellite, ISRO had successfully launched earth observation satellite RISAT-2B. The satellite would be instrumental in enhancing India’s surveillance capabilities.

This satellite replaced RISAT-2 which was launched in 2009. RISAT-2B is going to be a big boost as far as India’s surveillance capabilities are concerned. The satellite is going to be equipped with synthetic aperture radar and is capable of taking pictures of the earth day and night.

It will also be able to take pictures during cloudy circumstances. This satellite will have a mission life of five years, ISRO sources have said that it would also be used for military surveillance. It must be noted that RISAT-2 had also been used extensively to monitor terror camps situated in Pakistan and to block infiltration bids. When RISAT-2 was launched, it was seen as a major achievement of India placing it in a group of limited nations possessing the capability to use satellite technology for passive military use. Ten years later, India has further improved its technological prowess and has launched an even more effective satellite greatly boosting its monitoring and surveillance capabilities.

The ISRO satellites have become the biggest tool for monitoring against anti-social elements and surveillance tools against enemy countries.

Russian MANPADS Inducted

The Army, which has for long been looking for new man portable air defence systems, has inducted a small number of Igla-S systems recently bought from Russia under emergency procurement, according to defence sources. However, a much larger contract for Igla-S systems under the Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORAD) deal is still pending and under review by the Defence Ministry.

The contract was signed in December 2020 and the equipment was delivered by December 2021. This includes 24 launchers, 216 missiles and testing equipment.

The procurement was done through the Vice Chiefs emergency financial powers given to the Services for the first time after the Balakot air strike in February 2019 and further extended after the standoff with China in Eastern Ladakh in May 2020. Under this, Services can procure weapons systems up to Rs 300 crores on an urgent basis without any further clearances.

In the backdrop of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine and the Western sanctions, India and Russia are working out modalities to utilise the Rupee-Rouble route in a large way for trade and payments. The Ministry is also assessing the impact it would have on the timely execution of deals as well as steady supplies of spares and support.

The larger VSHORAD deal which began in 2010 and saw several rounds of trials and re-trials is still pending. This deal which was close to conclusion is now under review as part of the overall relook at all direct import deals by the Defence Ministry. Deliberations are still continuing on the larger VSHORAD deal.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) for VSHORAD was issued in October 2010 for over 5,000 missiles, 258 single launchers and 258 multi-launchers. Five contenders responded and eventually three made it to the trials – MBDA of France, Rosoboronexport of Russia and SAAB of Sweden. Eventually all three companies were declared technically compliant in 2017 and Igla-S was declared the lowest bidder in November 2018.

While the benchmark price arrived at by the Army was just over $2 bn, Rosoboronexport’s bid was much lower at around $1.47 bn, SAAB at about $2.6 bn, and MBDA at about $3.68 bn. This led to much deliberation within the Ministry as the Russian bid was much lower compared to the benchmark price. The deal also saw several allegations of deviations in procedures with some of the vendors sending protest letters.

As per requirements, the VSHORAD should have a maximum range of 6 km, altitude of 3 km along with all-weather capability and will replace the existing Igla in service which is in urgent need of replacement. VSHORAD is the soldier’s last line of defence against enemy combat aircraft and helicopters in the multilayered air defence network.

In addition to the Igla-S, the Army variant of the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) being jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) completed trials earlier this month and is now ready for induction. The maiden launch of MRSAM Army Version was conducted in December 2020.

Air Defence functions in three levels – gun/missile system, medium range, and high range. Within this the Air Defence guns are of two types, AD Gun Missile system, AD self propelled guns. The Army is looking for AD guns in both the categories. In the medium segment, it has the indigenous Akash SAM while MRSAM fits in the high range.

MRSAM System Completes Development Trials

Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) Army weapon system has proved its effectiveness as two missiles, during the flight tests, achieved direct hits against high speed aerial targets at Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on March 30, 2022.

On March 27, 2022, the missile system was successfully flight tested twice against high-speed aerial targets for different ranges as part of the live firing trials.

The launches were carried out establishing the accuracy and reliability of the weapon system against targets covering the sea skimming and high altitude functionality within the envelope. Performance of all weapon system components including missile, weapon system radar and command post have been validated during these trials. With the conclusion of flight trials for different ranges and scenarios, the system has completed its development trials.

Finnish Sako TRG-42 Rifles Inducted

The Indian Army has inducted the Sako .338 TRG-42 sniper rifles from Finland for troops deployed along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Most of the special forces across the world use .338 Sako TRG 42 sniping rifle and Indian Army has procured it.

Sako .338 TRG-42 sniper rifles have a better range, firepower, and telescopic sights than those possessed by the adversary.

Amid a change in operational dynamics along the LoC, the move is to make the snipers more lethal.

The Sako rifles have reportedly replaced the .338 Lapua Magnum Scorpio TGT by Beretta, and the .50 Calibre M95 by Barrett, which were inducted in the Indian army in 2019 and 2020.

These rifles – made in Italy and America – had replaced the ageing Russian Dragunov, the mainstay of Indian troops.

First procured in the 1990s, the Dragunovs have slowly fallen behind contemporary sniper rifles which offer improved sights and mounts, increased accuracy, and a strike range of over 1 kilometre.

The Sako TRG-42 sniper rifle is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed and developed by the Finnish gun maker SAKO.

The rifle is designed to fire powerful .338 Lapua Magnum-sized cartridges. and weighs at 6.55 kgs without ammunition. It has an effective range of 1,500 metres.

The rifle is considered one of the most accurate and trustworthy weapons gobally.

Sniping has been a bigger challenge for the soldiers patrolling forward areas along the LoC and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Between 2018 and 2019, there was a sudden increase in the number of sniping incidents along the LoC and IB prompting armed forces to induct better sniper rifles and train its snipers against such attacks.

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The launch was also the 75th launch vehicle mission from Sriharikota. About 7000 visitors witnessed the launch live. In 16 minutes after launch, RISAT-2BR1, weighs about 628 kg, was slung into an orbit of 576 km above Earth. It is expected to serve the forces for around 5 years.

After separation, the two solar arrays of RISAT-2BR1 were deployed automatically and the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru assumed control of the satellite.

The nine foreign customer satellites were launched under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), were precisely injected into their designated orbits.

The new satellite gives the armed forces a shot in the arm with its ability to identify objects separated by 35cms. So in case of any future surgical strikes, the armed forces will be able to keep track of the developments continuously before and after they hit the designated targets and get military-grade images.

The 628kg RISAT-2BR1 satellite is meant for applications in various fields like agriculture, forestry and disaster management support, as well as military purposes. Its earlier version, RISAT-2B, was placed successfully in orbit in May 2019.

The PSLV has placed around 310 foreign satellites with the first mission in September 1993. PSLV’s payload capacity has increased from 860 kg to 1.9 tonnes and the “versatile vehicle” has carried 52.7 tonne so far, 17 per cent of which was customer satellites. Some significant launches by PSLV include Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and the record launch of 104 satellites in one go earlier.

ISRO plans to launch RISAT-1A in 2020. It will be a Radar imaging satellite, with its configuration similar to RISAT-1. It is a land-based mission with primary application in terrain mapping and analysis of land, ocean and water surface for soil moisture.

The first dual-band radar imaging satellite with Synthetic Aperture Radar, NISAR, a joint project between NASA and ISRO (NISAR) to be used for remote sensing, will be launched in 2022.

Indian Military Satellites

RISAT-2, or Radar Imaging Satellite 2

Launched on 20 April 2009

Main sensor – X-band synthetic aperture radar

To monitor India’s borders

Mass of 300 kilograms

Day-night, all-weather monitoring capability

Cartosat-2 Earth observation satellite

Sun-synchronous orbit

Weight 680 kg

Launched on 10 January 2007.

panchromatic (PAN) camera

Swath covered 9.6 km

Spatial resolution less than 1 metre.

Cartosat-2A  Earth observation satellite

Sun-synchronous orbit

Launched on 28 April 2008

Panchromatic (PAN) camera 

CARTOSAT 2B Earth observation satellite

Sun-synchronous orbit

Launched on 12 July 2010 C

Carries a panchromatic (PAN) camera

Cartosat-2E Earth observation satellite

Launched on 23 June 2017

Mass 712 kilograms

Sun-synchronous orbit 

Panchromatic Camera (PAN)

High-Resolution Multi-Spectral radiometer

Resolution of 2 metres.

GSAT-7 or INSAT-4F  multi-band military communications satellite

For the Indian Navy

Launched 30 August 2013.

Payloads in UHF, C band and Ku band.

Weight 2,650 kilograms

Geosynchronous orbit

2,000 nautical mile ‘footprint’ over the Indian Ocean Region

GSAT-7A  military communications satellite

For the Indian Air Force and Indian Army

Interlinks ground radar stations, ground airbase, aircraft to aircraft

Real-time Control System, AWACSaircraft

Payload  10 Ku band transponders

Weight 2,250 kilograms

Launched on 19 December 2018

HySIS Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite

Earth observation satellite

Provides hyperspectral imaging services

Payload Visible Near Infrared (VNIR)

Shortwave Infrared Range (SWIR)

Spatial resolution 30 meters

Swath of 30 km

Sun-synchronous orbit.

Launched 29 November 2018

Features of Cartosat-3 Satellite

Mean Altitude – 509 km

Mean Inclination (in degree) – 97.5

Overall Mass – 1625 kg

Power Generation – 2000W

Mission Life – 5 Years

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RISAT-2BR1 Satellite 2

RISAT-2BR1 is a synthetic-aperture radar imaging satellite for reconnaissance built by Indian Space Research Organisation. It is part of India’s RISAT series of SAR imaging spacecrafts and fourth satellite in the series. Launch date: 11 December 2019

Manufacturer: ISRO

Launch mass: 628 kg

Perigee altitude: 560 km

Apogee altitude: 560 km

Rocket: PSLV-QL C48

Mission type: Radar imaging

Mission duration: Planned 5 years

Application: Disaster Management System

                Earth Observation

Orbit Type: LEO

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