Buoyed by its success in the Indonesian market, Bangalore-based Bharat Electronics Ltd. is now exploring other nations in South East Asia and Africa to export its portable battlefield surveillance radar, useful in monitoring the borders.

The defence public sector undertaking, which has recently won the prestigious Navratna status, is all set to export two radars to Indonesia within a few months, a BEL official told Deccan Herald. The company had earlier exported two similar radars to Indonesia. The new orders have come after the Indonesia expressed its satisfaction with the BEL radars. “We are now exploring other countries in the south east Asia and Africa,” he said.

The Navratna defence PSU, which aims to become a two billion dollar outfit by 2012, is now projecting this radar as an export item. Developed jointly with Bangalore’s Electronic Research and Development Establishment, the radar is being supplied to the Indian army since 2005.

Costing Rs 50 lakh a-piece, the radar has a range of 10 km for a tank, 5 km for other vehicles and 2 km for the human beings, the BEL official said, implying that the radar is ideal to check cross-border movement.

Along with Dhruv helicopter and Brahmos cruise missile, the BEL radar is one of the items, which the defence ministry thinks will enhance India’s arms export, which is limited at the moment.

Though the NDA government set an export target of Rs 1000 crore, even that mark was never reached by the Indian companies.

The poor response is because the government had allowed export of vintage items like Vijayanta tanks, light artillery guns and outdated military planes along with rifles and ammunitions. The attitude had changed only in the recent past when government allowed the state-owned defence manufacturing units to explore the export market with new products.