Indian Army to get Rs 3,000 crore communications satellite after defence ministry nod

The Indian Army is set to have its own top-end communication satellite with the Defence Ministry on Wednesday inking a Rs 3,000 crore agreement with the NewSpace India Limited for an advanced five tonne class communication satellite for the land forces.

“A contract with NewSpace India Limited has been signed to procure an advanced communication satellite GSAT-7B, which will provide high throughput services to the Indian Army. The project costs Rs 2,963 crore,” said a defence ministry official.

Unlike the satellites for the Navy and IAF, the payload for the Indian Army would be one packing more transponders to carry out complex tasks. It will be the first-of-its-kind in the five-tonne category and developed indigenously by Indian Space Research Organisation.

“The geostationary satellite will considerably enhance the communication capability of the Indian Army by providing mission-critical, beyond line of sight communication to troops and formations as well as weapon and airborne platforms,” said officials.

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Many parts and sub-assemblies and systems will be sourced from indigenous manufacturers, including MSMEs and start-ups, thereby giving a fillip to the private Indian space industry.

India currently has two military communication satellites – GSAT-7 (Rukmini for the Indian Navy) and GSAT-7A (Angry Bird for the IAF) that were launched in the last decade.

The first one GSAT-7 had 11 transponders including a UHF (ultra high frequency) one to communicate with submarines and was launched in 2013.

GSAT-7A (Angry Bird) was launched five years later in December 2018 from Sriharikota using the indigenous GSLV. This was one of the heaviest satellites lifted by the GSLV.

In the absence of its own dedicated satellite, the Indian Army currently uses some of the transponders on-board GSLV-7A.

The Defence Ministry also signed contracts worth more than Rs 2,000 crore with Bharat Electronics Limited for purchasing an automated air defence control and reporting system named Project Akashteer to boost Indian Army’s air-defence capability and Sarang electronic support measures for Indian Navy helicopters.

Last week, the ministry signed agreements worth Rs 3,000 crore with BEL for procurement of two integrated electronic warfare systems under Project Himshakti.