Air Force Gets 'Netra', The Game Changer In Warfare

Air Force Gets 'Netra', The Game Changer In Warfare(युद्ध)  The first indigenous(स्वदेशी) Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) has been handed over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) on the opening day of Aero India, the world's second largest air show. In a small ceremony on the tarmac(डामर) at Yelahanka Air Force base outside Bengaluru, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar

handed over the symbolic (प्रतीकात्मक) keys of the aircraft to the new IAF squadron which will fly the aircraft from its base in Bhatinda in Punjab. Christened the 'Netra', the Airborne Surveillance (निगरानी) System is seen to be a game-changer in air warfare.  The Netra is designed to control the battle space by detecting enemy aircraft more than 300 kilometres away. Using this data, operators on board the jet can vector Indian Air Force fighters to intercept these hostile(शत्रुतापूर्ण) targets. It is equipped with an indigenously built Active Electronically Scanned Radar, Secondary Surveillance Radar, Electronic and Communication Counter Measures, LOS (Line of Sight) and beyond LOS data link, a voice communication system and self-protection suite.

In order to be able to process all the data that it receives from its sensors, the Netra is equipped with home-grown tactical software that fuses information from the sensors to provide operators a coherent (सुसंगत) picture of airborne (हवाई) threats in the region on their displays.  

In an interview to NDTV, Suma Varughese, the Project Director says "All systems except the Electronic Support Measures (ESM) system is indigenous. The top antenna weighs 1,600 kg. It is an amalgamation (मिश्रण) of many technologies like the structural aspects, the software, the thermal aspects. It was the first time we had accepted this challenge."

The government, keeping the importance of the project in mind, has decided that it can ill-afford to blacklist Embraer, the manufacturer of the jet upon which the indigenous radar systems are mounted. So while Embraer, which has admitted to the involvement of middlemen in the deal, will be financially penalised, the project will continue.   

For the moment, the IAF is acquiring 2 Netra systems but Mr Parrikar is clear - in the future, Indian engineers will improve upon this system to make it better.  

"This was the first technical initiation so that we could achieve the basic objective. Now they will go for 360 degrees [surveillance] with this experience," he said.

indigenous

स्वदेशी

Definitions of indigenous adjective originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native. the indigenous peoples of Siberia synonyms: native, original, aboriginal, autochthonous, local, domestic,