India’s state-owned defense company Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) signed a contract with the Indian Navy on Thursday to supply 20 laser dazzlers, a non-lethal weapon for warning and stopping suspicious vehicles, boats and aircraft. It stated that the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) had earlier in December won the contract to supply the laser dazzlers to the Indian Navy. The Indian Defence Ministry in a statement said that this weapon has been indigenously designed and developed for the first time, and it also “dazzles and distracts aircraft/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). Under the contract, Bharat Electronics Limited will initially supply 20 Laser Dazzlers, which would be manufactured at the company’s Pune facility.
In recent years, the laser dazzler systems have evolved as highly potent threat deterrent for area denial. The conventional means of dispersing or controlling an agitated crowd can cause serious and lethal injuries. Laser dazzler which transmits a laser beam in visible spectrum temporarily impairs or disorients the aggressors in a completely non-lethal manner. It also dazzles and distracts aircraft/UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles. The weapon system is portable, shoulder operated, and is ruggedised for military use. The technology of the laser dazzler was developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
DRDO has developed variants of laser dazzler for diverse applications. Laser dazzlers from a range of a few tens of meters to tens of kilometers have been developed. Long range laser dazzler (HeliosAD) is a concept demonstrator prototype for dazzling at ranges of tens of kilometers. The system employs EO payloads mounted on two axis gimbal for target detection, identification and tracking for ranges in excess of 10 km. If the threat proceed in the same direction despite warning, highly intense yet safe dazzling green laser hails the threat platform forcing it to maneuver the platform in alternate direction. The system is integrated on mobile platform (Stallion).
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company with about nine factories, and several regional offices in India. It is owned by the Indian Government and primarily manufactures advanced electronic products for the Indian Armed Forces. BEL is one of nine PSUs under the Ministry of Defence of India. It has been granted Navratna status by the Government of India. BEL is the lead integrator of Akash, the Indian-made guided missile air defence weapon system. Another major system is weapon locating radar, the state-of-the-art passive, phased array radar which has undergone successful user trials by the Indian defence forces.
