Defence & SecurityImportant2025-02-20

MoD Inks ₹1,220 Crore Contract for Coast Guard SDRs

In News

What Happened

On February 20, 2025, the Ministry of Defence signed a ₹1,220.12 crore contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to procure 149 Software Defined Radios (SDR) for the Indian Coast Guard. The acquisition was made under the 'Buy (Indian-IDDM)' category. The radios are indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured in Bengaluru.

Why It Matters

This modernization leapfrogs the Coast Guard's communication capabilities, transitioning them to a secure, network-centric paradigm. It strengthens maritime law enforcement, ensures interoperability with the Indian Navy, and protects India's expanding Blue Economy interests while boosting domestic defense manufacturing.

Background

History & Context

Historically, maritime forces relied on traditional hardware-bound radios that required physical modifications to change frequencies or encryption standards. To address the need for network-centric warfare and seamless joint operations between the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, indigenous development of SDRs was prioritized. Driven by the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, institutions like DRDO and BEL collaborated to develop state-of-the-art SDRs, ensuring secure, high-speed data exchange resistant to modern jamming techniques.

What Changed

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Hardware Dependency: BEFORE, the Coast Guard utilized single-purpose, hardware-dependent radios with limited operational flexibility. NOW, they are transitioning to Software Defined Radios that are multi-band, multi-mode, and multi-role.
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Data and Voice Security: BEFORE, legacy communication systems had constraints in data speeds and encryption capabilities. NOW, the new SDRs enable secure, high-speed data transmission and encrypted voice communication for real-time situational awareness.
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Inter-agency Coordination: BEFORE, coordinating joint operations with the Indian Navy often faced technical friction due to disparate communication systems. NOW, standardizing on indigenous SDR platforms ensures seamless interoperability between the Coast Guard and the Navy.

Prelims Angle

NCERT Connection

In the Class 12 Physics NCERT (Chapter 15: Communication Systems), the core concepts of modulation, bandwidth, and signal transmission are introduced. Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology is an advanced real-world application of these concepts; instead of using rigid hardware components (like mixers and modulators), SDRs use software to dynamically alter modulation schemes and operating frequencies on the fly.

Practice Questions

Q1

With Reference To

With reference to the Software Defined Radios (SDR) procured for the Indian Coast Guard, consider the following statements: 1. The procurement contract with Bharat Electronics Limited falls under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category. 2. SDR technology is characterized by its reliance on fixed, single-purpose hardware to prevent signal jamming. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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