Israel’s Elbit Systems wins $127m Indian Army tactical radios deal

Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems announced on 26 May that, Indian Army has awarded a USD127 million contract to Israel’s Elbit Systems to supply about 5,000 tactical radio systems for a number of the service’s main battle tanks (MBTs) and infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) at the battalion and company levels. The contract will be performed over a three-year period. If confirmed, the development highlights the Indian army’s continued reliance on tactical radios from Israel. In July 2018, the Defence Acquisition Council cleared a ‘repeat’ order for 4,900 Tadiran radio sets for the T-72M1 Ajeya and T-90S Bhishma tanks of the Indian army.

These tactical radios, called combat net radio (CNR) sets, can transmit both data and voice and are designed to operate in environments of heavy electronic jamming to provide army personnel with a comprehensive picture of the battle scenario. These multiband combat net radios (CNRs), which are capable of voice and data communication, will provide the Indian Army armoured formations with a comprehensive battlefield scenario. the UHF/VHF radios will also be capable of operating in an environment of heavy electronic jamming. Elbit offers a range of tactical communication systems under the E-LynX family, which is based on advanced software-defined radio (SDR) technology. The range includes E-Lynx Vehicular MCTR-7200MP-VD55 dual channel vehicular radio and 7200MP-VS50 single channel vehicular radio.