KrishnaK wrote:
Says V K Mittal, a former senior scientist with the agency, “DRDO technology is almost two decades old. Two projects, namely Samyukta and Sangraha electronic warfare equipment, were partially inducted in the armed forces, but users felt these were outdated and more expensive than the latest technology available.”
First time I've read of this.
Its the first time you are hearing of this, because it has always been the leitmotif of a farcical media, which pretends to be doing journalism, but instead makes stuff up.
So you have excerpts from some watchdog trotted out, claims of a disgruntled insider etc - but no attempt to actually take DRDO or the actual user's perception.
No detailed technological comparison either. Because these will rapidly sink the claims of the projects being a) partially inducted b ) user disinterest and c) being behind the technology available.
Lets take Samyukta. This is what was directly noted in July 2012 by none other than the [b] Commandant, Military College of Telecommunication and Engineering, Lt Gen. Sharma.
What are the major changes that have happened in the electronic warfare (EW) in the last five years? Where exactly are we headed in this area?
We have EW equipment which has been indigenously manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) on which training is being given in addition to the new equipment which is on its way from Israel. Samyukta system by BEL is state-of-the–art equipment and has already been fielded in one of the groups. We also have simulators on which training is imparted. An inter-services course is also conducted by each service in rotation every year. The recent advancement in EW is that now the same equipment is able to address a large number of frequencies for which separate equipments were required earlier. Today, we have the advanced equipment which can take care of a larger portion of the spectrum and is more potent. These systems can also take care of the anti-ECCM (electronic counter counter-measures) techniques adopted by the adversaries like frequency hopping etc.
http://forceindia.net/ForceIndiaJuly201 ... view9.aspxNote, the Samyukta equipment consists of both com and non com segments. One was developed before the other & deliveries started. And its success can also be understood from the fact that the Army has placed follow on indents for development of similar systems for specific terrain on DRDO & its partners!
Next, Sangraha, the "partially inducted" etc system. Lets have a look at the "partial orders" placed, shall we?
http://frontierindia.net/sangraha-for-indian-navy15 KITE Electronic Support Measures (ESM) system have been inducted in service on Kamov and Chetak Helicopters. Additional 47 KITE systems are in order and in various levels of production and integration. EAGLE ESM systems have been installed on Dornier aircraft and 8 more systems have been ordered. First 5 HOMI systems built by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have been installed on TU-142 aircraft and additional orders are being processed. 2 PORPOISE ESM systems have been installed in EKM Submarines and additional 11 systems have been ordered. ELLORA system built by BEL has been installed on INS Beas. Three more ships of INS Beas class and three ships of P-17 class will be equipped with ELLORA.
Such huge efforts invariably involve teething issues, which are also resolved. For instance, the ESM systems developed for Light Aircraft faced challenges & were then sought to be improved by fitting additional antenna and upgraded software/algorithms to generate better DF accuracy. The scale of the orders placed though is proof enough of what the Navy thought of the potential of the system
And the Navy clearly thinks enough of Sangraha developed ESM suite to order it for their P8I's as well.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lXmyQg0MM8k/U ... fing-3.jpgLook at point 3. Thats the ESM suite plus the fingerprinting system.
A derivative of the Sangraha developed tech.
Furthermore, lets look at post Sangraha - whats going on, take a look at Varuna.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kyU4KzEQrLw/T ... C00667.jpghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Y23fnZnUyI/U ... PSES-2.jpgNote the reference to exotic radars e.g. LPI. The integrated RFPS is again something developed in parallel with Sangraha and now rolled out across platforms.
And this, from 2012.
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/efeatures.aspx?relid=94689Completion and acceptance of Varuna, a modern ESM system for Navy with capability to intercept and process all modern radars including LPI radars was another step in achieving self-reliance in the field of Electronic Warfare.
Fact of the matter is that in our missile and electronics program, India has made great strides, thanks purely due to diligence and constant upgrades of earlier designs, new designs introduced and so forth. India started from a relatively modest Prithvi, based off of TDs (Devil, Valiant etc) and ended up today with Agni-5. Similarly, the basic Indra-1 design of the late 80's sparked off a process, by which India is testing & qualifying AESA radars of its own design today. Similarly, our other electronics programs (EW/ESM/Communication, SONARS) have been through their own cycle of development, testing and induction, with newer designs constantly being turned out.
Net, while you have a handful of folks who will believe what a worthless media trots out as gospel & may not seek to do their own research into seeing what has gone on & succeeded in Indian R&D. That does not however mean that the state of affairs is anywhere as bleak as portrayed. Despite the GOI, handful of technocratic organizations still run a fair ship and remain insulated from (most) of the rot. This is not to say that improvements cannot and should not be made, for instance the private sector deserves a far greater say in production of these systems, but its ironic that the attacks on the Indian R&D establishment usually target those very success stories that prove the capability of the private sector, public private partnerships and that even in high technology, India can shake off the yoke of imports.
