Army's tactical battlefield system

New Delhi, Apr 3(PTI) Noting that long range missiles and artillery had thrown up new dimensions in future warfare, Army Chief Gen J J Singh on Monday said the army proposes to set up a new tactical battlefield communication system.

"We are in the process of finalising general staff requirements for a flexible, robust, reliable and secure infrastructure in the tactical battle area," Singh said.

The army chief said international tenders would be floated for seeking frontline international collaboration for building up the system after army's electronic warfare experts finalise the blueprint for the futuristic system.

Army Signal Officer-in-Chief Lt Gen Davinder Singh said emphasis was on for bringing in "beyond line of sight capability" by way of satcom, tropobase stations with phone patches and airborne unmanned relays and repeaters.

Though not directly referring to use of satellite and air-borne jammers that was used by US led allied forces to pulverize Iraqi forces in Gulf War II, Davinder Singh said the new system would be set up to withstand "maximum threat of physical destruction, high degree of electromagnetic interference and electronic disruption".

The army chief said that such a system would transform the army into a Network Centric force.

Terming the role of private defence industry as "vital" in such futuristic projects, the army chief said the new offset clause could play an important role in focusing Private industry into the defence production sector.

"Offset clause we believe is still vague and what form or shape it is to take, the government needs to amplify it", he said, favouring a white paper by the Ministry of Defence on it.

On the role of the private sector, the army chief said that recently army in a pioneering exercise had invited the CII to draw up a general staff requirement plan for an all-weather multi-purpose light support vehicle for the army.

"It proved a refreshing exercise as the GSQR draw up by the private sector addressed all major requirements of the forces and we do propose to issue a Request for Proposals in which three domestic players can compete for the project," he said.

Singh said such an approach could be adopted for other requirements of the armed forces such as communications and weapons systems.