Following 16 years of software develpment and eight years of hardware development and engineerng with the help of Israel Aerospace Industries and TADIRAN, Phase-1 of of the Indian Air Force’s ballistic missile defence (BMD) network is now under construction under Project Swordfish, which encompasses the building of three L-band long-range tracking radar (LRTR) sites (near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, near Jaipur, Rajasthan, and at an as-yet unidentified site in Uttarakhand)—all of which will be focussed along India’s western air-defence identification zone (ADIZ). Construction activities are slated for completion by mid-2023.
Under Phase-2, three additional LRTR sites will be built (with construction already commencing earlier ths year) to cater for the northern and northeastern portions of the IAF’s ADIZ.
Separately, work will commence next year on the construction of 12 L-band High-Power Radar sites—eight facing the LAC and four facing the IB, WB and LoC.
In addition, the DRDO-owned LRDE laboratory is developing a C-band (UHF-band) high-powerand wide-scanning active phased-array radar for use with the DRDO-developed XR-SAM long-range SAM, which will make use of Ka-band active RF seeker for terminal guidance.
