India’s state-owned defence public sector undertaking (DPSU), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is showcasing its strengths and capabilities in the field of strategic electronics at the ongoing Indo Defence Expo & Forum. BEL’s participation at Indo Defence, is a sign of the Indian strategic electronics company’s intent to grow its exports with a larger global footprint. BEL has already operationalised overseas marketing offices in Oman, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, in a bid to develop new markets in the Indian ocean region (IOR) and friendly foreign countries (FFCs). It has also expanded its Singapore and New York regional offices to handle marketing activities.
According to company officials, “BEL has identified exports & offsets as one of its thrust areas and has drawn up plans to offer select products and systems to various export markets.” We have received an extremely encouraging response with our participation at Indo Defence with interactions with numerous companies and delegations. “Efforts are also underway to establish long term supply chain relationships with global players.”
BEL is showcasing its wide range of indigenous products at the show, including, communication radios, radars such as weapon locating radar, the ATULYA fire control radar and battle field surveillance radar – short range, anti-drone system, underwater systems, Naval (Electronic Warfare) EW systems, coastal radar system, electro optic equipment, gun upgrades, etc. BEL is now also undertaking Phase II of the Indian coastal surveillance system (CSS), which is being established for the Indian Coast Guard. The CSS is aimed at covering the entire Indian coastline in two phases. Phase I of CSS has been established with a network of 46 radar sites and under Phase II, 38 more radar sites are to be added. BEL has also partnered with Indian state-owned defence firm Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) to develop and manufacture an indigenous EW suite for 56 C295MW transport aircraft ordered from Airbus Defence and Space S.A., Spain in September 2021. Under the terms of the contract, 16 aircraft will be delivered in ‘flyaway’ condition and the remaining 40 will be manufactured in India.
BEL also manufactures T/R (transmit/receive) modules for the Thales RBE2 radar on the Dassault Aviation Rafale’s part of Thales’ Offsets commitments under the Rafale India contract. The T/R modules are key to the RBE2 radar’s active electronic scanning performance, enabling it to steer the radar beam with the speed of an electronic chip. BEL has implemented a set of rigorous industrial processes and played an active role in the transfer programme. BEL delivered the first RBE2 AESA (active electronic scanning array) radar with a front end manufactured by it in November 2020. The radar was delivered by Thales to Dassault Aviation. BEL implemented a set of rigorous processes at its Bangalore facility to meet its contractual obligations as part of the deal. The transfer of technology to BEL was initiated in 2017 and included validation of the company’s technical capacity to deliver prototypes, qualify the various technologies involved in the wiring process, set up a dedicated SMC wiring production line with a preproduction run, train BEL engineers in France and install test benches for microwave characterisation at the BEL facility. Specifically developed for Rafale, the RBE2 was the first in-service European AESA radar and has been combat proven on Rafale aircraft operated by the French Air Force.
BEL is a multi-technology, multi-Unit conglomerate having products in the areas of Radars, Missile Systems, Military Communications, Naval Systems, Electronic Warfare & Avionics, C4I Systems, Electro Optics, Tank Electronics & Gun/Weapon System Upgrades and Electronic Fuses in the Defence segment. BEL’s non-Defence business segment includes areas such as Electronic Voting Machines, Homeland Security & Smart Cities, Satellite Integration & Space Electronics, Railways, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Software as a Service, Energy Storage Products, besides Composite Shelters & Masts.
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