IAF Inks Contract with BEL to Procure Software-Defined Radios, Boosting Its Communication Network

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) signed a contract with Bharat Electronics (BEL) on Saturday to acquire modern communication sets that are lightweight and portable. These sets, based on Indigenous Software Designed Radio (SDR) technology, will embed and fortify IAF's communication network and have been impending for quite a while now.

“These Indigenous Software Designed Radio (SDR) technology based sets will provide a boost to the IAF's Communication Network”, said IAF in its official statement.

All You Need to Know About SDRs Being Procured by IAF

These man-portable radios, primarily designed by DRDO, are to facilitate communication in various scenarios, including ship-to-ground, ground-to-ground, and ground-to-air, especially during critical amphibious operations, as per a prior DRDO statement.

The SDR-Manpack developed by DRDO was specifically crafted to meet the specialised needs of Marine Commandos or MARCOs. Equipped with features like frequency modulation (FM), digital secure voice transmission, and Enhanced Concurrent Communications Multiplexer (ECCM) capabilities, this radio, according to DRDO, ensures secure and reliable communication channels.

Furthermore, the DRDO-developed SDRs support both narrowband and wideband communication in the V/UHF band, hence ensuring that flexibility and adaptability are maintained in various operational environments. Similarly, the SDR-Handheld (SDR-HH) is used for certain speech applications. With support for FM and digital secure voice waveforms, along with secure authentication features and built-in GPS receivers for location tracking, this compact radio, according to DRDO, has a high degree of flexibility and the much-needed interoperability for mission-critical tasks.

The SDR also features a multi-mode, multi-rate software-defined radio architecture by offering jam-resistant frequency hopping, MANET networking capabilities, and a complete array of high-grade security features.

In simpler terms, these SDRs will support voice, video, data, and messaging services to ensure hassle-free communication is maintained across various platforms and legacy systems.