India to now procure special mountain radars for borders with China

BY: TNN

IAF is finally going in for specialised and rugged mountain radars which can be deployed in high-altitude areas bordering China to ensure air intrusions by spy drones, helicopters and aircraft are detected in “realtime”.

This comes in the backdrop of continuing intrusions — the military likes to dub them “transgressions” — by the People’s Liberation Army all along the unresolved 4,056-km Line of Actual Control, from Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh to the “finger area” in Sikkim.

China, in fact, continues to needle India even in the middle sector of Uttarakhand-Himachal. Just last week, for instance, a PLA platoon on horses crossed over in the Barahoti region with sheer impunity. While most of these “transgressions” occur on land, violations of Indian airspace are not unknown.

“These light-weight mountain radars will be installed in difficult terrains like Ladakh since conventional radars cannot be deployed there. They should be able to pick up even small aircraft from a distance of 300 to 400 km away,” said an officer.

The RFI (request for information) issued to global armament firms specifies these “active aperture phased-array radars” should be able to provide 360 degree coverage in altitudes up to 5,000 metres in extreme weather conditions.

“They should be able to classify targets as large, medium and small fixed-wing aircraft, rotary wing aircraft and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) automatically,” it says.

With state-of-the-art ECCM (electronic counter-counter measures to prevent enemy jamming) features, the radars should also be capable of tracking multiple targets simultaneously. The radars will be remotely operated from “operational shelters” around 3,000 to 5,000 metres away through “fibre-optic and redundant radio links”.

As earlier reported by TOI, IAF has already inked contracts for several other types of radars to ensure Indian airspace becomes more impregnable. These include 19 LLTRs (low-level transportable radars), four MPRs (medium-power radars) and 30 indigenous medium-range Rohini radars, apart from plans to induct nine additional Aerostat radars and two more AWACS (airborne warning and control systems).

To strategically counter China’s massive build-up of military infrastructure along the LAC, IAF has already reactivated ALGs (advanced landing grounds) like Daulat Beg Oldi, Fukche and Nyama in eastern Ladakh. It is also upgrading eastern sector ALGs like Pasighat, Mechuka, Walong, Tuting, Ziro and Vijaynagar as well as several helipads in Arunachal.

Then, of course, in addition to basing Sukhoi-30MKI fighters in the North-East, Army is also raising two new specialised infantry mountain divisions (35,000 soldiers) and an artillery brigade for Arunachal.

India also plans to progressively base six surface-to-air Akash missile squadrons in the North-East to counter the threat posed by Chinese fighters, helicopters and drones.