India Homegrown Radar Tech: India has quietly built very strong radar systems. This means they don’t need to buy them from Europe anymore. They used to get radars from countries like France, the UK, and Sweden. Now, India makes its own, and they are really good.
China has big radar systems that can see very far, which worried India. But India made its own radars that are just as good, and sometimes even better. One of these is called Ashwini. It’s a special radar that the Indian Air Force uses. It can see things flying low, like drones and sneaky planes, even when other countries try to block it.
“Europe’s radar development has largely focused on meeting the needs of a relatively stable continent, prioritizing interoperability and incremental upgrades built around Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology for performance, reliability, and integration into NATO’s defense architecture. The imported radar system was no match for diverse high threat environment faced by India from dual fronts of Pakistan and China rapidly evolving missile and air capabilities,” claimed a senior Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) official.
India’s scientists, especially those at LRDE, worked hard to make these radars. They wanted to “Make in India,” which means making things in their own country. They made a radar called Swordfish. It can see missiles flying very far, over 1,500 kilometers. This is better than some radars made in Europe.
“Ashwini radar system directly counters China’s growing fleet of stealth fighters like the J-20 and its extensive radar net along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” said an Indian Army commander on the system deployed in the forward bases in Ladakh and Aurnachal Pradesh.
“The Swordfish Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR) developed by DRDO and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) boasts a detection range exceeding 1,500 km for ballistic missile tracking with upgrades. The AESA-based system is integral to India’s Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) network offers precision tracking and fire control capabilities that outstrip Europe’s comparable systems like the French Thales SMART-L with a range of around 1,000 km in its extended configuration,” explained a senior naval weapons specialist Commander, according to Free Press Journal.
Europe’s radars are good for protecting planes and ships, but India’s Swordfish is made to stop fast missiles. India tested it with real missiles, and it worked.
Another really powerful radar is called Virupaksha. It uses special parts that make it see very clearly and far. It can see better than some of the best radars in Europe. The Virupaksha radar is designed for air surveillance and early warning outperform even advanced Eurepaan platforms like Saab GlobalEye in raw detection power and adaptability to Indian diverse terrain.
India also made a big radar called HPR. It can see things flying over 300 kilometers away and track many things at once, even super-fast things like hypersonic missiles. China has these kinds of missiles, but India’s HPR and Swordfish can do many different jobs, not just one.
India also made radars for its fighter planes and ships. The Uttam radar goes on Tejas planes, and the Revathi radar goes on warships. This shows India can make radars for all kinds of things. Europe’s radars are often made for just one job, not many.
