A new passive radar developed by the IAF to detect hostile unmanned aerial vehicles. (Janes/Oishee Majumdar)
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has developed a passive radar that can support operations to counter hostile unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The radar has been developed by the IAF's 9 Base Repair Depot (9 BRD) unit in Pune. Speaking to Janes at the Aero India 2025 show held in Bangalore from 10 to 14 February, Wing Commander Nikhil Kumar Jaiswal from 9 BRD said that the IAF is currently testing this radar.
“Once the trials are completed, the radar will be manufactured in partnership with New Delhi-based Bhumi Entech and installed on different bases of the IAF. It can also be supplied to other services [the Indian Army and the Indian Navy] if required,” Wg Cdr Jaiswal said.
“The radar does not have any transmitter. It only has a receiver. The radar uses long-term evolution (LTE) signals from mobile towers to form a [detection] grid,” he added.
Wg Cdr Jaiswal said the radar uses dipole antennas and has a range of 5 km, a detection altitude of 1 km, a 360° coverage, and an operating frequency of between 800 MHz and 3,500 MHz. The radar is portable and can work in temperatures ranging from -20°C to 80°C.
The radar can detect multiple targets. At present, it can simultaneously detect up to six targets. It can also detect targets with low radar cross-section (RCS) of up to 0.03 m2, he added.
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