Army to get satellite, will help provide mission-critical data

Context:

• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed three contracts worth ₹5,400 crore — two with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) worth ₹2,400 crores for procurement of Automated Air Defence Control and Reporting System ‘Project Akashteer’ for the Army and Sarang Electronic Support Measure (ESM) systems for the Navy. Another ₹2,963-crore contract is with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Department of Space, for an advanced communication satellite, GSAT 7B, for the Army.

Points to ponder:

• The ‘Project Akashteer’ Automated Air Defence Control and Reporting system will provide the Indian Army’s Air Defence units with a unique, cutting-edge capability to operate in an integrated manner.
• Akashteer will allow the Indian army to watch low-level airspace over battle regions and successfully manage Ground Based Air Defence Weapon systems.
• Sarang is an advanced Electronic Support Measure device for Indian Navy helicopters that was created and built in-house by the Defense Electronics Research Laboratory in Hyderabad as part of the Samudrika project.
• Both initiatives will promote Indian electronics and associated sectors, including MSMEs that are BEL subcontractors, to participate. The scheme will also help to generate roughly two lakh man-days of employment over three years. 
• The satellite will significantly improve the Indian Army’s communication capacity by enabling mission-critical, beyond-line-of-sight contact with soldiers and divisions and weapon and aerial platforms. The geostationary spacecraft, the first of its kind in the five-tonne class, will be built entirely in India by Indian Space Research Organizations.