IAF wants industry to assemble ELINT system using commercial technology

Tribune News Service

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, August 12

The Indian Air Force is seeking a “quick-fix” solution to meet its requirements for generating electronic intelligence (ELINT) and communication intelligence (COMINT) by asking the industry to develop a new vehicle-based system from technology already available in the open market.

The system will be developed with commercially available off-the-shelf hardware and software and no development of specialised components is envisaged in the project, according to preliminary information issued by the IAF today.

“Readily available hardware and software is to be used to integrate to produce a speedy solution for providing creditable ELINT and COMINT solution,” the IAF’s note says.

The employment of the system will be to collect and analyse information pertaining to radio signal emissions by enemy radars and transmission systems within a defined frequency range and detect modulation of all known techniques.

The system is expected to be built on a Stallion 10-ton 6X6 truck having a bullet proof cabin along with nuclear, biological and chemical protection. It should be able to function at temperatures from minus 40 degree Celsius to 50 degree Celsius and at altitude up to 16,000 feet.

Steerable antenna which can point in any direction, inbuilt GPS for positioning and time stamping data, data processing facility, captive power supply generators and integration with IAF communication networks are other required parameters for the system.

The IAF already operates several types of ground-based and airborne platforms for ELINT and COMINT, some of which have been developed by the Defence Research Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Apart from other such systems, BEL had recently developed a ground-based mobile ELINT station for the IAF, called Himraj.

ELINT and COMINT, which involves collecting information through the use of electronic sensors, is a crucial requirement in today’s battlefield environment as they help assess the capability of enemy equipment and its location as well as provide advance warning on enemy movements and intentions.

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