Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 7

After inducting ground-based electronic warfare (EW) systems over the past couple of decades, the Army now wants to take this battlefield domain into the skies. It has projected a requirement of aerial systems for reconnaissance, surveillance as well as countering hostile radio and cellular networks and satellite-based systems.According to the Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap – 2018 document that was issued by the Ministry of Defence a few days ago, the Army has projected a requirement for three aerostat systems, seven heliborne EW systems and 10 EW payloads for remotely piloted aircraft.The document, the first edition of which was issued in 2013, identifies the requirements of the three services in various domains over the next decade and serves as a guide for the industry for planning or initiating technology development, partnerships and production arrangements.The Army’s requirement for the aforementioned aerial systems comes along with an additional requirement for 10 integrated EW systems that can be mounted on tracked or wheeled vehicles. The Air Force and the Navy too have projected requirements for different types of EW platforms to meet their operational needs.The broad parameters for the EW systems include the capability to deny effective use of electronic spectrum by the enemy, detect, monitor, and jam enemy cellular and satellite communication receivers, radars and GPS systems, carry out communication intelligence and electronic countermeasures, besides integrating photo-recce and image correlation for physical identification of targets. The IAF had inducted two aerostats over a decade ago and drawn up plans for further acquisitions, which are still hanging fire. An aerostat is an unpowered balloon tethered at a certain height above the ground and equipped with surveillance and communication equipment. It can remain deployed for a number of days at a stretch, scan a wide swath of area and is particularly effective for detecting low-flying or surface objects.Aerial EW systems that the Army is envisaging can also be used for counterterrorist operations and sub-conventional conflict situations besides conventional deployment.