The Cabinet Security Committee (CCS) has approved the creation of a secure communication system for the army at a cost of Rs 7,800 crore, a significant move that will improve network coverage in advanced areas, including the disputed Line of Control. Real (LAC) and provide a big boost to the army’s operational readiness “especially given the current operational situation in LAC,” the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
Separately, the ministry signed a Rs 409 million contract with a private company for the first time to supply one million hand grenades to the army to replace an old WWII design currently in use, in which it will provide a boost. to the brand. on India’s initiative, officials said.
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The CCS approved the long-pending proposal to establish Phase IV of the Army Static Switched Communication Network (ASCON), and the project will be implemented by Indian Telephone Industries Limited, a public sector company under the Department of Telecommunications of the Army. Ministry of communications. – under a 7,796 million rupee contract signed on Thursday. The communications network will be operational in three years.
“The project will provide better survivability, responsiveness and high bandwidth in any operating scenario and will improve the communication coverage of the network closest to the international border, the control line and the actual control line” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The army had been carrying out the project for some years to improve its communication facilities in remote areas.
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The network will extend high-bandwidth communication to remote operational areas in the central and eastern sectors and will also improve the range of communication to advanced locations on the western border, authorities said.
The statement said the project would augment the army’s communications network in sensitive operational areas and provide a major boost to its operational readiness, especially given the current situation in LAC, where India and China have been locked in a border row for more. five months and both parties have arranged for the long tour in the eastern theater in Ladakh.
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The experts welcomed the initiative to configure the network.
“ASCON Phase IV has been around for quite some time and it is good that the government has approved it now. It will provide modern communication facilities and improve the coverage of the army network in different sectors, ”said former Northern Army Commander, Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retired).
The project marks a major improvement in communications technology.
“The project is a theater area and strategic communication network that will upgrade existing asynchronous transfer mode technology to Internet Protocol (IP) / Multiple Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology. Fiber optic cable, microwave radio and satellite will be used as means of communication, ”the statement said.
The ASCON Phase IV project is expected to provide a boost to the local industry, as it has indigenous content of almost 80%.
It will involve various activities, including the execution of civil works, laying fiber optic cable and construction of towers, and will generate employment in remote border areas, the statement said.
“The project is also a great opportunity for the public sector to show its capacity and boost the Indian economy and it will be a step in the direction of achieving the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat”, He added.
In another move that is expected to provide momentum to the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat {Self-Reliant India), the defense ministry signed a contract with Nagpur-based private company Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL) for the supply of 1 million multimode hand grenades to the army. These will replace a WWII vintage hand grenade design that is being used by the military, the ministry said in another statement.
EEL will deliver the new grenades for two years.
The multimode hand grenade has been designed by the Chandigarh-based Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratories (TBRL), a laboratory of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and will be produced by EEL.
“This is a flagship project showcasing the public-private partnership, enabling ‘AtmaNirbharta’ in cutting edge munitions technologies and achieving 100% indigenous content,” the statement added.
Multi-purpose grenades are on the list of 101 types of weapons and ammunition that India will progressively ban import over the next five years. The government released the negative import list in August to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi a boost. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Movement of self-sufficient India).
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