Nod for Rs 8,000 crore Air Force radar system

The Cabinet cleared the proposal on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Security, apart from the $3 billion purchase of Apache and Chinook helicopters from the US, on Tuesday also cleared an almost Rs 8,000 crore project for extension of the IAF's fully-automated air surveillance and defence network to the entire country.The IAF has already established five nodes of the IACCS (integrated air command and control system) in the western sector facing Pakistan at Barnala (Punjab), Wadsar (Gujarat), Aya Nagar (Delhi), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Ambala (Haryana) with help from defence PSU  Bharat Electronics. 

Now, as was first reported by TOI, four new major nodes and 10 sub-nodes will come up under Phase-II of the IACCS. While three nodes will be in eastern, central and southern India, the fourth is meant for the strategically-located Andaman and Nicobar Islands archipelago. 

By progressive integration of all airborne and ground-based civilian and military radars around the country, the aim is to ensure any intrusion by a hostile aircraft, helicopter, drone or micro-light can be detected and tackled as soon as it takes place. "The composite air picture will be available in real-time at centralised locations and the national command post," said a source. 

Some of the new nodes will be located in underground complexes to improve survivability in face of enemy attacks, even as the entire IACCS infrastructure is also being upgraded with advanced early-warning, jam-resistant radars and the like.

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