BEL bags Rs 2,900 crore order for Low-Level Transportable Radar for IAF

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has inked a capital acquisition contract worth Rs 2,906 crore with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) on Wednesday for the procurement of Ashwini Low-level Transportable Radar (LLTR). BEL’s production unit in Ghaziabad will manufacture the radar.

The radar is indigenously designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Bengaluru-based Electronics and Radar Development Establishment. Its acquisition will significantly enhance the operational preparedness of the Indian Air Force.

Ashwini is an active electronically scanned phased array radar based on the state-of-the-art solid-state technology. It is capable of tracking aerial targets from high-speed fighter aircraft to slow moving targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters.

The radar development programme is a major step towards achieving self-reliance in defence manufacturing by reducing dependency on foreign origin equipment manufacturers besides acting as a catalyst for the development of defence industrial ecosystem in the country, an official statement issued by the MoD read.

A defence public sector undertaking, BEL has produced a number of different types of radar and surveillance platforms for the armed forces, besides a range of communication and electronic warfare equipment.