NEW DELHI, October 6 — The Ministry of Defence on Tuesday finalized a major procurement contract valued at ₹3,200 crore with Navratna defence public sector undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the supply of state-of-the-art Software Defined Radio Tactical (SDR-Tac) and Manpack systems for the Indian Army.
Executed under the apex 'Buy (Indian-IDDM)'—Indigenously Designed, Developed, and Manufactured—category of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2020), the procurement establishes secure, high-bandwidth voice, video, and tactical data communication networks across forward combat formations. The digital radio architecture features anti-jamming frequency-hopping algorithms, embedded cryptography, and multi-band interoperability, enabling seamless situational awareness even within heavily contested electronic warfare operating theatres.
The core technology was jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) specialised laboratory and BEL's tactical communications research wing, with series manufacturing slated across BEL's Bengaluru and Ghaziabad manufacturing facilities. The induction directly operationalizes the armed forces' transition from legacy analog single-channel transceivers to next-generation unified network-centric warfare platforms.
Defence procurement frameworks under DAP 2020, indigenous defence industrial corridors, DRDO technological architectures, and tactical electronic warfare represent vital syllabus topics across CDS, NDA, CAPF (AC), and UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Security and Technology). Aspirants should understand that 'Buy (Indian-IDDM)' is designated as the most preferred procurement category under DAP 2020, mandating that products possess indigenous design and at least 50 percent local content to qualify for procurement prioritization.