BEL develops Anti-Radiation Decoy system to protect Akash air defense system

Source : The Indian Express

Anti-radiation missiles are used against enemy radars to suppress their air defences. (Express photo)

Bengaluru: The Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has designed and developed an indigenous anti-radiation decoy system to protect the Akash missile system against an anti-radiation missile. It can be operated in all weather conditions.

Speaking to indianexpress.com on the sidelines of Aero India, a BEL scientist said, “When a threat aircraft releases an ARM (anti-radiation missile) to hit the Akash missile system, the anti-radiation decoy system releases a radio frequency and distracts the ARM’s path. It is unmanned and can be remotely operated from a control system. We have been working on this for quite some time as we wanted a thoroughly indigenous product to protect the Akash missile system. It can be operated in all weather conditions.”

Anti Radiation Decoy System - Developed by Bharat Electronics Limited,
- Developed to protected the Akash Missile System against ARM
- Can classify ARM for the operators,
- Remotely Controlled, all weather operations! pic.twitter.com/N62XKF7ISc

— Reach Defence (@DefenceReach) February 15, 2023

Ukraine recently installed a number of anti-radiation missiles against Russia. “The decoy system has been in use for a long time in other countries, but this is the first time we have developed something like this in India. Ours is a completely indigenous product,” the scientist said.

Anti-radiation missiles are used against enemy radars to suppress their air defences. Their primary purpose is to degrade enemy air defences in the initial phase of a conflict to increase the chance of survival for the following strike aircraft.

Akash is the first state-of-the-art surface-to-air missile system inducted into the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. The missile system was developed by the Defence Research Development Organisation, and BEL produces a radar system called Rajendra for the system.