Nod to procuring indigenous software defined radio for Navy

The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday cleared procurement of software defined radio developed by DRDO for the Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 490 crore.

Over 260 of these communication sets will be procured under the Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) category. Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) will be the nodal agency for production.

The technology will improve information sharing and situational awareness through secure voice communication and data transfer capabilities on-board ships and ashore, said Ministry sources, adding that the new communication set will replace the older sets entirely onboard ships.A

Software defined radio commonucation sets, unlike the conventional radio communication sets, send and receive data in an encrypted form, making it more secure channel of communication.

A source in the Indian Navy said the new sets will change the "ethos" of communication entirely.

--IANS

ao/vd