With drones and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) becoming very potent weapons in modern-day warfare, the need for counter-UAS systems is becoming imperative as is being witnessed in the ongoing wars in Ukraine and in West Asia.
Upping its quest to equip itself with cutting-edge and niche weaponry, the Indian Army is on the hunt for 90 high-power microwave (Mark II) systems to counter the growing threat of UAS or drones.
Microwave weapons belong to the family of Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) where devastating lethal force generated by concentrated laser, microwaves or particle beams are directed onto a target at a great speed.
DEWs have many key advantages over conventional weapons. There is unmatched accuracy, low cost per shot, logistical benefits and low detectability, besides the lightning speed at which the death rays hit the target.
The defence ministry’s Request for Information (RFI) for the procurement, issued on Tuesday, specifies that the system “should have a surveillance, detection and tracking capability, microprocessor for computing a targeting solution and a High Power Microwave weapon system for hard kill (destruction) or soft kill (denial)”.
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The High Power Microwave Weapon System should have the capability to neutralise hostile UAS individually or in a SWARM, while the jammer, meant for ‘soft kill’, should have the ability to jam the hostile UAS in the detected frequencies including non-standard frequencies across the entire spectrum range.
The radar system should be able to detect and track even targets with low radar signatures and thereafter assist in designation of the hostile targets to the weapon system.
The microwave system with at least a 3km operational range, has to be vehicle-mounted and be able to be deployed independently or in conjunction with already deployed air defence weapon systems and other counter UAS weapon systems.
It has to be capable of operating in high altitude and mountainous terrain upto 4,500 metres altitude, plains, deserts, and India’s coastal areas and in a temperature range of minus 20 degrees to plus 55 degrees centigrade and a humidity level of up to 95 percent.
