India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved the procurement of locally developed Next Generation Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries (NGMMCBs) and software-defined radios (SDRs) for the Indian Navy (IN).
India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved the procurement of locally developed Next Generation Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries fitted with the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile (seen here). (IHS Markit/Patrick Allen)
The MoD’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which is headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, announced on 8 August that an undisclosed number of NGMMCBs fitted with the BrahMos surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile, would be deployed along India’s coastline, but did not elaborate on the precise location.
However, IN sources told Jane’s on 12 August that two NGMMCBs worth an estimated total of INR10 billion (USD140.37 million) would be based at INS Trata, the navy’s missile battery base in Mumbai responsible for defending a large swathe of India’s western coast.
Each of the new coastal batteries is expected to comprise 6-8 Tatra launch vehicles, each of which would deploy up to six BrahMos missiles.
The NGMMCBs are set to replace the Soviet-era P-15 Termit (SS-N-2 'Styx') medium-range anti-ship missile batteries that were inducted in the 1970s, senior IN officers said.
Meanwhile, the PIB stated that the locally designed SDRs, which will feature an anti-jamming capability, are expected to enable the IN to share information and augment situational awareness via high-speed data and secure voice communication.
It is unclear how many SDRs will be acquired for the service, but IN officials told Jane’s that this procurement, which is also valued at INR10 billion, is designed to replace ageing communication systems used at all major IN shore installations as well as on platforms such as warships and submarines.
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