Defence Ministry signs ₹1,950 crore deal with BEL for mountain radars

What Happened

• The Ministry of Defence signed a ₹1,950 crore contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) on March 31, 2026, for the procurement of two mountain radars and related infrastructure for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
• The mountain radars are indigenously designed and developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) based in Bengaluru.
• BEL will manufacture the radars, which are specifically designed for deployment in high-altitude mountainous terrain including Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and the Northeast.
• The radars are designed to detect and counter emerging aerial threats including drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles — UAVs) and low-flying missiles in complex mountain topographies where conventional radars have line-of-sight limitations.
• The procurement is under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) defence manufacturing initiative, reducing dependence on imported surveillance systems.
• The deal also includes procurement of 129 DR-118 Radar Warning Receivers (RWRs) — electronic warfare equipment that alerts pilots when their aircraft is being tracked by hostile radar.

Static Topic Bridges

Surveillance Radars in Mountain Terrain: Technical and Strategic Context

Conventional ground-based surveillance radars face significant operational limitations in mountainous terrain. The curvature of the Earth and terrain masking (the blocking of radar energy by mountain ridges) create large radar "shadows" — areas invisible to the radar that can be exploited by adversaries for low-level infiltration by aircraft, drones, or missiles. Mountain radars are specifically designed to address these limitations through higher placement (on mountain tops), specialised signal processing to compensate for multi-path reflections from terrain, and wider coverage in the elevation plane. The Indian border with China (Line of Actual Control) and Pakistan (Line of Control) both run through extremely high and rugged terrain — the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Zanskar ranges — making high-altitude radar coverage an existential priority for India's air defence network.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and India's Defence Electronics Ecosystem

Bharat Electronics Limited is a Navratna-status public sector undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Defence, headquartered in Bengaluru. Established in 1954 with West German technical collaboration, it has evolved into India's primary defence electronics manufacturer. BEL designs and manufactures a wide range of defence systems: surveillance and fire-control radars (including Arudhra, Atulya, and Revathi radars), naval combat management systems, tactical communications systems, electronic warfare suites, electro-optics, avionics, and missile electronics. BEL achieves 60–75% indigenous content in many platforms through its network of MSME cluster vendors and in-house R&D. BEL's collaboration model with DRDO is central to India's defence indigenisation: DRDO develops the technology, BEL productionises and scales manufacturing, creating an integrated public sector R&D-to-production pipeline.

Drone Threats and India's Counter-UAV Strategy

The proliferation of armed and surveillance drones has transformed the character of modern warfare and border security. The 2021 Jammu Air Force Station drone attack — in which explosives-laden drones targeted an IAF facility — was the first known use of armed drones in a terrorist attack on a military installation in India, exposing a critical gap in India's low-altitude air defence. Since then, India has been pursuing a layered Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS) strategy combining radar detection, electronic jamming (soft kill), and kinetic interdiction (hard kill). The mountain radar's capability against drones is specifically significant because drones flying through mountain valleys at low altitude are particularly difficult to detect with existing systems. India has also been investing in dedicated anti-drone systems including the D4 (Drone Detect, Deter and Destroy) system developed by BEL-DRDO.

Aatmanirbhar Bharat in Defence: Policy Framework

The Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) initiative in defence aims to reduce India's status as the world's largest arms importer and develop a robust domestic defence industrial base. India has been the world's largest arms importer for most of the past decade. Key policy instruments include: the Defence Acquisition Policy (DAP) 2020 which gives priority to Indian-designed and developed (IDDM) systems; positive indigenisation lists (PILs) which progressively ban import of items available domestically; the dedicated Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; and the iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) programme for startups. The 2024–25 defence budget of ₹6.21 lakh crore included a specific capital procurement budget with 75% reserved for domestic industry.

Key Facts & Data

• Contract value: ₹1,950 crore
• Contracting parties: Ministry of Defence and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)
• Customer: Indian Air Force (IAF)
• Developer: LRDE (Electronics and Radar Development Establishment), DRDO, Bengaluru
• Manufacturer: BEL
• Radar type: Mountain radar (high-altitude surveillance, anti-drone, anti-missile)
• Deployment locations: Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Northeast India (high-altitude regions)
• Quantities: 2 mountain radars + related infrastructure
• Additional procurement in same deal: 129 DR-118 Radar Warning Receivers (RWRs)
• Total deal context: Part of ₹3,700 crore combined contracts signed with BEL on March 31, 2026
• Initiative: Aatmanirbhar Bharat defence indigenisation
• BEL status: Navratna PSU under Ministry of Defence; headquartered in Bengaluru (est. 1954)