Swordfish is an Indian

active electronically scanned array An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled antenna array in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the a ...

(AESA) long-range tracking radar specifically developed to counter ballistic missile threat. It will be a part of the Indian Ballistic Missile Defense Programme. First testing of this radar was in March 2009. Main aim of the test was to validate the capabilities of the ''Swordfish Long Range Tracking Radar'' (LRTR). "The missile to be hit will be fired from a longer distance than it was in the earlier test.

DRDO The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, headqu ...

tested whether the radar could track the incoming missile from that distance or not," said a member of the project. This radar is an acknowledged derivative of the Israeli EL/M-2080 Green Pine long range radar, which is the critical component of that country's Arrow missile defense system. However, it differs from the Israeli system as it employs Indian Transmit Receive modules, signal processing, computers and power supplies. It is also more powerful than the base Green Pine system and was developed to meet India's specific BMD needs.

Development

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

acquired two Green Pine long range base variant radar from Israel in July 2002 and August 2005 since USA vetoed the complete sale of Arrow 2

missile defense Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear weapon, nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic mi ...

system in 1999 due to violation of

Missile Technology Control Regime The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a multilateral export control regime. It is an informal political understanding among 35 member states that seek to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology. The regime was formed ...

(MTCR) which India at that time was not a participating member state. From March 2009, DRDO started validation trials for its own long-range capabilities of Swordfish radar. More tests were conducted in 2009 to enhance the capabilities of Advanced Air Defence (AAD) endo-atmospheric missile to intercept incoming missiles at altitudes up to 15 km. If no issues crop up, then the tentative date for deployment is 2015. As of January 2019, Swordfish was able to detect over 10 successful missile interceptions that includes two exo-atmospheric hit-to-kill missions.

Super Swordfish

A new upgraded 1,500 km range ''Super Swordfish Long Range Tracking Radar'' or LRTR-II was developed since 2011 by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) in view of

multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with i ...

(MIRV) development taking place in China and Pakistan.

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national List of government space agencies, space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), ...

(ISRO) is already using an

L band The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at the lower en ...

AESA radar called Multi Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) which is based on the same technology with fixed horizontal and vertical angle rotating at 360°. It is capable of tracking 0.25 m² object at 1,000 km and 0.09 m² at 800 km of

Low Earth Orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

(LEO). Astra Microwave developed the antenna, transmit and receive (T/R) module and

DC-to-DC converter A DC-to-DC converter is an electronic circuit or electromechanical device that converts a source of direct current (DC) from one voltage level to another. It is a type of Electric power conversion, electric power converter. Power levels range from ...

. NS Engineering created the cooling system and mechanical structure. Cape Electronics developed the power distribution system. As per

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MoD), the system is operational and deployed as per Ballistic Missile Defence of

Delhi NCR The National Capital Region (NCR; ) is a region centred upon the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi in India. It encompasses Delhi and several districts surrounding it from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The NCR and ...

. A minimum of two units of LRTR-II were tested in real-world conditions. The radar will be also deployed in Eastern Sector.

VLRTR

The LRTR series of radars has been succeeded by the VLRTR. The VLRTR, or Very Long Range Tracking Radar, has a range exceeding 3,000 km. The

GaN The word Gan or the initials GAN may refer to: Places * Gan, a component of Hebrew placenames literally meaning "garden" China * Gan River (Jiangxi) * Gan River (Inner Mongolia), * Gan County, in Jiangxi province * Gansu, abbreviated '' ...

-based TRMs may be used by Very Long Range Tracking Radar. To support ballistic missile defence, the Missile Monitoring System uses VLRTR to identify space-borne threats. As per

, two units of VLRTR systems were accorded by Union Government under memorandum of understanding between

National Technical Research Organisation The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) is a technical intelligence agency of India. It was set up in 2004. The agency reports to the National Security Advisor (India), National Security Advisor and to the Prime Minister's Office (I ...

and

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

to implement a Missile Monitoring System to identify space-borne threats under

Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme The Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme is an initiative to develop and deploy a multi-layered ballistic missile defence system to protect India from ballistic missile attacks. It was launched in 1999 after the Kargil War by the Atal B ...

. First unit was raised in 2017 and the system is operational.

Capabilities

* Target acquisition and fire control radar for the BMD system. * Can Guide Exo-atmospheric interceptor missile PAD to hit its target in space at an altitude over 80 km from earth. *It can detect and track 200 targets simultaneously travelling at a speed of over

Mach The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (; ) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a Boundary (thermodynamic), boundary to the local speed of sound. It is named after the Austrian physi ...

12. * The Swordfish LRTR currently has a range of - km range and can spot objects as small as a

cricket ball A cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket. A cricket ball consists of a cork (material), cork core wound with String (structure), string then a leather cover stitched on, and manufacture is regulated by cricket law at first-clas ...

(3-inches in diameter), which the DRDO is in the process of upgrading it to 1,500 km as of 2012. These may end up as entirely new designs as well.

Operators

* *

References

External links

Another Ballistic missile defence test next month - Indian Express
{{Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Military radars of India Defence Research and Development Organisation Missile defense