Rs 8000 cr for the Indian Air Force to get a better radar system to detect hostile aircraft, drone or even micro-light!

Apart from purchasing Apache and Chinook helicopters from the US, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is also going to extend its fully-automated air surveillance and defence network in the entire country.

The Cabinet Committee on Security, apart from the $3 billion purchase of choppers from the US, has also cleared an almost Rs 8,000 crore project for extension of the IAF's defence network.

The aim is to ensure any intrusion by a hostile aircraft, helicopter, drone or micro-light to be detected and tackled as soon as it takes place.

According to a source, the composite air picture would be available in real-time at centralised locations and the national command post.

The country will have better surveillance system with the help of integrating all airborne and ground-based civilian and military radars.

The IAF has already set-up five nodes of the integrated air command and control system (IACCS) in the western sector facing Pakistan at Barnala (Punjab), Wadsar (Gujarat), Aya Nagar (Delhi), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Ambala (Haryana) with help from defence PSU Bharat Electronics.

There is now a plan to establish four new major nodes and 10 sub-nodes under Phase-II of the IACCS. While three nodes will be in eastern, central and southern India, the fourth is meant for the strategically-located Andaman and Nicobar Islands archipelago.

Some of the new nodes will be located in underground complexes to improve survivability in face of enemy attacks, even as the entire IACCS infrastructure is also being upgraded with advanced early-warning, jam-resistant radars and the like.

(Image: Indiatimes)