New Delhi: The Navy has decided to install the indigenously-developed software defined radio (SDR) in all its aerial assets, ThePrint has learnt.
Its MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, also known as Romeos, have become the first naval aerial platform to be fitted with the indigenous system that allows encrypted communication.
The SDR, which has been developed by the Navy along with Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), is already fitted in its surface ships. The aerial platform doesn’t differ much from its surface counterpart in terms of functioning; it’s just much smaller, almost a miniaturised version.
The device helps in carrying out signal processing using radio frequency (RF) communication systems. Before it was developed, the Navy used conventional radios for communication.
A source in the defence and security establishment said the SDR in Romeo is “captive” or a system used for a specific role in a constrained condition. He added that the communication device is part of the indigenous Link-II data link system, which is a naval tactical communication system that enables exchange of text communication in real time between ships, submarines and shore establishments.
The Romeo, which adds to the Navy’s surveillance and combat capabilities, is designed for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, search and rescue operations and medical evacuation.
Back in February 2020, India had signed an agreement with the US to procure 24 MH-60Rs under the framework of foreign military sales (FMS). Nine have been delivered so far and the first squadron of these multi-role choppers, the INAS 334, was commissioned this March at INS Garuda in Kochi.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)