Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

India also has dedicated land based radars for space surveillance and tracking.

These radars are known as VLRTR ( very long range tracking radar ). It is a AESA radar using GaN technology.

Their ranges are greater than 3000 km. Though normally they are operated at low power for 2000 km range.

2 units of VLRTR are operational by NTRO which is the technical intelligence agency of India. Though I believe the system’s comes under the purview of Indian defence space agency ( DSA ) and Defence Space Research Agency (DSRA).
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Just to give an example of the capabilities of older systems operational in India.

In 2015 ISRO ( Indian space research organisation ) commissioned it’s Multi-Object Tracking Radar ( MOTR ) to track its space assets , space debris , reentry of spacecrafts , rocket launches etc.

The radar can detect and track ~ 30 cm x 30 cm sized objects at 800 km range, and ~ 50 cm x 50 cm objects at 1,000 km range in space.

The radar can track more than 10 space targets simultaneously.


GaN is preferred if SWaP is at a premium eg airborne radars , otherwise GaAs is mostly opted for due to cost constraints and other complexities. Anyways GaN is the best choice.
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GaN is preferred if SWaP is at a premium eg airborne radars , otherwise GaAs is mostly opted for due to cost constraints and other complexities. Anyways GaN is the best choice.

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There is another similar ship known as DRDO Project 20 ship / DRDO TDV ( technology demonstration vessel ).

Pic from Jane’s intelligence review magazine

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DRDO Project 20 ship / DRDO TDV (technology demonstration vessel) is fitted with a dual panel long range multifunction radar ( LR-MFR ) which can act as a long range fire control radar.

It also has 4 hatches for installation of ship launch system ( SLS ).

This ship is part of India’s new sea based open test range in the Indian Ocean in order to test long range surface to air missiles , long range cruise missiles , ICBMs / SLBMs , MIRVs / MaRVs / HGVs etc.


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Launch of Dhanush ballistic missile from an Indian Navy OPV ( offshore patrol vessel )

Another pic of Dhanush ship launched ballistic missile. It is a version of land launched Prithvi 3 ballistic missile.

The stabilization and launcher mechanism is installed on the OPV helipad.

It is reported armed with nuclear warhead.

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Serves two purpose

1. During peacetime is used to fire dhanush to stimulate hostile ballistic missile in order to test Indian BMD interceptors.

2. During wartime if required take out the hostile naval base on the western side.

Serves two purpose

1. During peacetime is used to fire dhanush to stimulate hostile ballistic missile in order to test Indian BMD interceptors.

2. During wartime if required take out the hostile naval base on the western side.
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This is the ship launch system ( SLS ) launcher for the floating test range which is fitted to DRDO project 20 / TDV ship.


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Old satellite pic of INS Dhruv during its construction showing the various radomes on the ship



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In other news Indian Navy and Indian coast guard variant of Dhruv Mk3 inducted in service.


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Pic coast guard variant

Matheus S said:

India also has dedicated land based radars for space surveillance and tracking.

These radars are known as VLRTR ( very long range tracking radar ). It is a AESA radar using GaN technology.

Their ranges are greater than 3000 km. Though normally they are operated at low power for 2000 km range.

Click to expand...

Can you link some sources for the VLRTR range being 3000 km?

Btw, I don't think Indian AESA's are an independent development. No fault in it though. Also, TowerJazz cooperates with India for Defence semi fabrication ( small scale).

Matheus S said:

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In other news Indian Navy and Indian coast guard variant of Dhruv Mk3 inducted in service.

View attachment 80262
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Pic coast guard variant


View attachment 80264

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This helicopter is a variant of light helicopter built by India and uses Israeli Avionics and Radar - Elta’s maritime surveillance radar and Identification Friend and Foe MkXII.

Xsizor said:

Kaveri is a failure as of now. The French haven't even helped them with M88.

1. By 2017 ( I don't know the exact dates), the French studied the Kaveri program and helped Indians with reducing engine issues like noise,vibrations etc. Do note that no support was given to improve the core ( High Pressure stages, Turbines) of the engine.

2. Later, Safran promised to support India with Kaveri ( as part of Rafale deal?) on the core but as the Rafale deal got through, Safran came back and told India that it'd offer its M88 core for the Kaveri engine ( Not a tech transfer/ tech infusion but just a replacement of Kaveri core with M88 for a sticker price).

3. Safran is quoting what seems to be a really high price (2 billion and more) for M88 core technology to the indians. I read that this technology itself is outdated ( early M88 with performance similar to what Kaveri sets as goal). And that's not confirmed and could be just wishes and dreams.

Click to expand...

Even if the m88 transferred is outdated it will still be a huge leap for India's engine tech. Overnight india will become one of the rare few countries that can produce fighter engines

Xsizor said:

Can you link some sources for the VLRTR range being 3000 km?

Btw, I don't think Indian AESA's are an independent development. No fault in it though. Also, TowerJazz cooperates with India for Defence semi fabrication ( small scale).

Click to expand...

This is a secret project in our assessment, but it can detect small RCS warheads at ranges of 1500 to <2000 km. It can guide 5-8 SAMs to the target, so the seeker helps to engage the warhead. GISAT-1 also helps find the ballistic missile launch. For targets with higher RCS, the 3000 km range is fully plausible.

DRDO very long range tracking radar. Using GaN-based TRMs, this radar can track objects over 2000 km.

Currently, two radars are in place, one is a terrestrial version and the other is on ocean surveillance vessel VC 11184.

The induction of two new units for very long range tracking radar systems (VLRTR) has been granted by the Government of India
under MoU between NTRO and IAF.

VLRTR is used for the Missile Monitoring System for detecting space threats in aid of Ballistic Missile Defense. So the first VLRTR Unit was raised in 2017 and the system is operational.
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Long Range Radars of India. Swordfish( LRTR )- Range 600 Km . LRTR 2 ( Upgraded Swordfish) - Range upto 1500 Km. LRTR 3 ( Upgraded LRTR 2)- Range more Than 2000Km. VLRTR- Range More Than 3000Km. Military variant of MOTR - 1500 Km. Tin Shield Radar - Upto 1000Km.

sndef888 said:

Even if the m88 transferred is outdated it will still be a huge leap for India's engine tech. Overnight india will become one of the rare few countries that can produce fighter engines

Click to expand...

Exactly. I'm not criticising France and if France gains from all this, good for them. It's a dog eat dog world and the French knows it (in light of recent events).

My point was that the French hasn't helped Kaveri yet with M88. If it did, India would have flown a fighter with the Engine (they say it'd take them 4 years) . But the thing to consider here is this - Indians insist they have been manufacturing AL-31FP under Tech transfer. If that's the case then why do they struggle with Kaveri?

Ofcourse, most sober would know that India doesn't exactly manufacture the engines, critical components like the core is likely being kept away from Indians and their is a lack of industrial base to independently develop and produce.

Matheus S said:

This is a secret project in our assessment, but it can detect small RCS warheads at ranges of 1500 to <2000 km. It can guide 5-8 SAMs to the target, so the seeker helps to engage the warhead. GISAT-1 also helps find the ballistic missile launch. For targets with higher RCS, the 3000 km range is fully plausible.

DRDO very long range tracking radar. Using GaN-based TRMs, this radar can track objects over 2000 km.

Currently, two radars are in place, one is a terrestrial version and the other is on ocean surveillance vessel VC 11184.

The induction of two new units for very long range tracking radar systems (VLRTR) has been granted by the Government of India
under MoU between NTRO and IAF.

VLRTR is used for the Missile Monitoring System for detecting space threats in aid of Ballistic Missile Defense. So the first VLRTR Unit was raised in 2017 and the system is operational.
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View attachment 80265
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Long Range Radars of India. Swordfish( LRTR )- Range 600 Km . LRTR 2 ( Upgraded Swordfish) - Range upto 1500 Km. LRTR 3 ( Upgraded LRTR 2)- Range more Than 2000Km. VLRTR- Range More Than 3000Km. Military variant of MOTR - 1500 Km. Tin Shield Radar - Upto 1000Km.

Click to expand...

But some sources or atleast a paper on it is necessary. Just claiming it to be so is not particularly helpful.

Also, I had to look for sources for your claims and it seems like Indian Defence forum is your source. You just pronounced it verbatim. Why would you fall prey to what is, seemingly, exaggerations?

Btw, I find no difference between LRTR-3 and VLRTR.

Also, as per this -


VLRTR Project (NTRO): Induction of two new Units for Very Long Range Tracking Radar (VLRTR) systems were accorded by Government of India under MoU between NTRO and IAF for realizing Missile Monitoring System for detection of space borne threats in aid of Ballistic Missile Defence. Accordingly, first VLRTR Unit was raised in 2017 and the system is
operational.

So, the LRTR 3 ( in the slides) seem to be VLRTR. This throws doubt on the claims and ranges of LRTR2, LRTR3, VLRTR etc along with them being seperate entities.

Now the only part that merits discussions would be the range and I don't think we can discuss it as no military would be thick skulled enough to divulge details about it.

Xsizor said:

But some sources or atleast a paper on it is necessary. Just claiming it to be so is not particularly helpful.

Also, I had to look for sources for your claims and it seems like Indian Defence forum is your source. You just pronounced it verbatim. Why would you fall prey to what is, seemingly, exaggerations?

Btw, I find no difference between LRTR-3 and VLRTR.View attachment 80267

Also, as per this -

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VLRTR Project (NTRO): Induction of two new Units for Very Long Range Tracking Radar (VLRTR) systems were accorded by Government of India under MoU between NTRO and IAF for realizing Missile Monitoring System for detection of space borne threats in aid of Ballistic Missile Defence. Accordingly, first VLRTR Unit was raised in 2017 and the system is
operational.

So, the LRTR 3 ( in the slides) seem to be VLRTR. This throws doubt on the claims and ranges of LRTR2, LRTR3, VLRTR etc along with them being seperate entities.

Now the only part that merits discussions would be the range and I don't think we can discuss it as no military would be thick skulled enough to divulge details about it.

Click to expand...

We won't find much information about VLRTR, nor do Indians need to need this information. Regarding my source being the Indian defense forum, you are completely mistaken, if you look closely at the posts of the photos I am publishing, you will attest that it is a Brazilian defense blog that has an Indian who offers us information about the Indian developments. The only forum that I regularly follow is DefenseTalk, but I don't follow daily how to follow here, because I couldn't register there.

Well then. Indeed, in theory LRTR-3 and VLRTR appear to be the same, but coming to this conclusion on that basis is not a solid statement.

As I understand it, LRTR and VLRTR are two different programs.

1. LRTR and MFCR are clearly the radars of the BMD project. They also need more than 1 set of radars.

2. The VLRTR project probably referred to Super GreenPines imported specifically into NTRO. This same source you posted clearly attests to this.


For example, the VLRTR radar has ranges in excess of 2000 km and 2 units are already deployed and operated by the NTRO (Civil Technical Intelligence Agency) for space-based age detection.

This is different from similar radars (LRTR, LRTR-2, LRTR-3) currently deployed / under deployment for BMD and operated by the IAF.

Matheus S said:

We won't find much information about VLRTR, nor do Indians need to need this information. Regarding my source being the Indian defense forum, you are completely mistaken, if you look closely at the posts of the photos I am publishing, you will attest that it is a Brazilian defense blog that has an Indian who offers us information about the Indian developments. The only forum that I regularly follow is DefenseTalk, but I don't follow daily how to follow here, because I couldn't register there.

Click to expand...

Well, just a suggestion : Take things from anyone who has a chance of being biased with a pinch of salt. It applies to anyone - Indians, Americans, Chinese...

Most Indian defence articles and informations contain gross exaggerations and hype. Twitter and forums have been polluted with wrong information.

Matheus S said:

Well then. Indeed, in theory LRTR-3 and VLRTR appear to be the same, but coming to this conclusion on that basis is not a solid statement.

As I understand it, LRTR and VLRTR are two different programs.

1. LRTR and MFCR are clearly the radars of the BMD project. They also need more than 1 set of radars.

2. The VLRTR project probably referred to Super GreenPines imported specifically into NTRO. This same source you posted clearly attests to this.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

GlobalSecurity is one joke of a website. They act as merely an aggregation site of news, and articles are certainly shoddy and unreliable. You'd understand when you read up a particular article. As I have noticed, GlobalSecurity has information/aggregated news of developments within 1990-2010 timeframe.One may only use GlobalSecurity only very carefully and not as a primary or even secondary source.

Matheus S said:

For example, the VLRTR radar has ranges in excess of 2000 km and 2 units are already deployed and operated by the NTRO (Civil Technical Intelligence Agency) for space-based age detection.

This is different from similar radars (LRTR, LRTR-2, LRTR-3) currently deployed / under deployment for BMD and operated by the IAF.

Click to expand...

Again, you are insisting on these radars being different and I will oppose that in light of arguably better information I have provided . For me, VLRTR = LRTR3/2. And only two have been put into operations.