In a major win, India has managed to bag a $40 Million defence export deal. Under the deal, India will supply four indigenously-built weapons-locating radars to Armenia. Russian and Polish firms were also in the race to bad the mega-deal.
While interacting with a news agency, a government source said, "The deal is for supplying four Swathi weapon locating radars developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to Armenia in Europe."
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The supply of the equipment to Armenia has already begun under the 'Make in India' initiative and this is being considered as a big achievement. Reports also stated that Armenia had conducted various trials of the systems offered by Russia and Poland. Even though the Russian and Polish systems were good, they decided to ahead with the reliability of the Indian system.
Under the $400 Million contract, India is required to supply four Swathi weapons-locating radars. The radars provide fast, automatic, and accurate location of enemy weapons like mortars, shells, and rockets in its 50-km range. It can also simultaneously handle multiple projectiles fired from different weapons at different locations.
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The Indian Army is also currently using the same Swathi weapon locating radars to carry out operations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Using the radar, the army traces the source of attack by Pakistani positions. The Indian Army had trialled the system in 2018.
As per the officials, this deal will open up a new market for Indian indigenous systems, which are considered to be reasonably priced as compared to its rivals. The Ministry of Defence is also eying various other orders from South-East Asia, Latin America, and Middle-Eastern countries to boos defence exports. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of Rs. 35,000 crore for Indian defence exports.