Defense Ministry Gives Priority To Indigenization Of Software-defined Radios For Armed Forces

The Central Government is engaged in promoting indigenous manufacturing of Software Defined Radio (SDR). The government, along with the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and the Indian Institute of Technology, is working expeditiously to make SDRs in India. According to news agency ANI, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that the demand for software-defined radios by the security forces has increased. Defense Secretary Ajay Kumar said that this includes indigenous self-sustainable design, development, manufacturing, testing/certification, and maintenance ecosystem. Security-sensitive SDR technology and products require a complete life cycle management framework.

A draft project report prepared by DRDO

It is worth mentioning that Abhay Karandikar, Director of IIT Kanpur, who is also the chairman of the committee constituted by the Ministry of Defense, thought of creating the 'India Software Communication Architecture Profile'. A Draft Project Report (DPR) has been prepared by DEAL/DRDO for the indigenous development of SDRs with a roadmap and timelines. The availability of IRSA through access control will enable Indian software vendors to integrate SDRs and make them interoperable and security gradable. IRSA will be notified by DoS and shared with industry for the development of indigenous SDR for use by Indian Defense/Security Forces and export to friendly countries.

Efforts to achieve a 'Self-reliant India' will get a boost

The three institutes involved in the development, DEAL/DRDO, IIT-Kanpur, and DoS have already started work as per the DPR. Defense Secretary Ajay Kumar exuded confidence in all organizations and said that this would set a new benchmark for the indigenization of critical equipment, which has been imported till now. This will give a boost to the effort to achieve a 'Self-reliant India'. In addition, the imports will reduce the budget and create a secure radio network for the armed forces. He said that efforts would be made to complete it in a time-bound manner.