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COMMUNICATION IN DEFENSE: Securing the Frontiers

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VoicenData Bureau
New Update

As Indian defence forces transform themselves into leanmean modern fighting

machines, communication and networking undoubtedly are going to play a very

strategic and tactical role not just in electronic warfare but also in

conventional battles and wars. Realizing this, the three wings of the Indian

armed forces — the army, navy and air force have been investing heavily in

modernizing their communications network by adopting several new technologies.

The US led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have amply demonstrated the significance

of communication and information technologies in the success of military

campaigns, a senior defence ministry official emphasizes.

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Towards Convergence



According to the latest Ministry of Defence annual report, procurement of

state-of-the-art communication equipment and systems has brought about

substantial qualitative improvements in the communication capability of the

Army. Some of the major procurements are: RS HX long-range frequency-hopping

high frequency radio sets, Hand-Held Walkie-Talkie Radio Sets, Interception

Receiver AR 5000, Radio Set 5 Watt/20 Watt VHF, and Radio Set 5 Watt/50Watt VHF

for Armoured Fighting Vehicles. A countrywide-secured value-added backbone data

network is also being established connecting the important formation

headquarters of the army.

Convergence

of technologies is the buzzword in the army. A perfect example of the adoption

of convergence technology is the recently commissioned high-tech-Dhruva

Satellite Communications Network. The army communication set-up in Jammu and

Kashmir has got a new edge with this as voice, data, and video confronting

facilities will now be available in most operational locations in the state. No

doubt, the project is considered as yet another step towards convergence of

technologies and providing the Army with the state-of-the-art communications in

perhaps the most hostile terrain in the world. This state of the art secure

satellite network has the world's highest V-SAT terminal located at an

altitude of 18,631 ft. This network is integrated with the Eastern Theater

Satellite Network one of the densest satellite communication network within the

country. The unique and innovative feature of this network is the high-density

pipeline using satellite transponders, a concept inducted for the first time in

the country. During the commissioning of the network, the Signal

Officer-in-Chief Lt Gen Davinder Kumar VSM and Bar stated that operational

necessity, self-reliance, security and information assurance were the keys to

provisioning of this high end technology fully secure satellite communication

network for the Army. The network has been fully integrated with the Army's

terrestrial network to increase its range and efficacy with a view to met the

challenges of the digital battlefield of tomorrow.

Another

example of convergence is the Combat Net Radio - a frequency hopping radio for

data and voice communication used in armoured fighting vehicles. User trials of

the Combat Net Radio have been completed successfully.

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Keeping in mind the needs of electronic warfare, Development and field trials

of Communication segment of Samyukta (an Electronic Warfare Programme for Army)

have been completed and production orders for Samyukta communication segment has

been placed.

Strengthening the Air Defence



According to the Ministry of Defence report, various state-of-the-art

communication networks like Integrated Air Command, Control and Communication

System (IACCCS), Aerostat, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Prithvi Tactical Air

Centre (TAC) / Joint Air Defence Centre (JADC) / Delhi Area Defence Centre (DADC)

/ Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) etc. are being planned using Fibre Optic

Media (FOMedia), satellite and microwaves system for effective and efficient

integration of Air Defence Operation Elements like fighter aircraft squadrons,

radars, Command Headquarters etc. Also the existing Air Defence Ground

Environment System (ADGES) communications network is being modernized with

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology using Fibre Optic Media.

State-of-the-art radar and communication systems such as Aerostar, Low Level

Light Weight Radars (LLLWR) etc are under various stages of induction to provide

effective Air Defence against enemy attack.

According

the annual report, the IAF has made significant progress by using space

technologies in the field of communications, surveillance and reconnaissance,

search and rescue. INSAT series of satellites are used for communications, while

IRS series of satellites are used for imaging. India has obtained the capability

of 1 metre resolution imaging through Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS)-TES.

Securing the Seas



Indian Navy recently commissioned a Navy Wide Network named Navy Enterprise

Wide Network (NEWN) Sanchar Project to ensure fast and secure data transfer and

connectivity. The project was completed at a cost of Rs. 35 crore. The navy is

in the process of implementing communication projects worth around Rs. 210 crore.

Ravi Shekhar Pandey

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