In a boost to the “Make in India” initiative in the defence sector, two state-owned Indian companies have bagged a joint $40 million deal to supply advanced radar systems to Armenia, a landlocked country located in the mountainous region between Asia and Europe., The Indian companies outsmarted their competitors from Russia and Poland to grab the prized contract, which came weeks after a mega defence expo held in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, in which several foreign firms had evinced interest in India-made military equipment. The Bengaluru-based Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) will manufacture the radars. According to a news report, Armenia has placed an order for four Swathi Weapon Locating Radars developed by DRDO and manufactured by BEL.
Armenia has selected the Indian radar systems following an extensive trial of the equipment from all the three countries. The Indian Army has deployed these radars along the Line of Control (LoC) to counter artillery fire from Pakistan. The Swathi Weapon Locating Radars are a mobile artillery system, designed to track artillery and rocket fire for counter-action.
The radars can simultaneously detect multiple projectiles such as mortars fired from different directions in a 50-km radius. The Indian Army has used them at the border in Jammu & Kashmir to spot incoming Pakistani projectiles following their trials in 2018. A total of 170 manufacturers from 70 countries, including the US, Russia, and Israel, participated in the 11th edition of the five-day biennial defence expo in February. Addressing the inaugural function, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the Indian manufacturers were developing new weapons to tackle emerging security threats and his government has made defence research and development a national priority.
