India to Buy Israeli Combat Radio, Promises to Procure Local Product in Future

India’s Ministry of Defense wanted the Army to use locally developed tactical combat radio sets but the Army refused to do so arguing they were incompatible with the existing inventory of Israeli equipment.

India’s Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved the purchase of around 4,900 Tadiran tactical combat radio sets from Israeli firm Elbit at an estimated cost of USD 135 million. The Indian Army is already using such sets for communication in field areas and battle zones.

The deal has been cleared after a protracted face-off between the Indian Army and the Defense Ministry. While the Ministry had been pushing for the purchase of the local version of the set manufactured by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the Army argued that communication would not be possible between the DRDO –developed sets and the Tadiran sets already in use as Elbit had not provided the source code of its products.

Now, with Elbit agreeing to provide the new sets along with their source code, the Indian Army has assured the Defense Ministry that all future sets would be procured from the DRDO.

India is already in the process of acquiring Israel’s foliage penetrating radar for surveillance in dense forests of Kashmir valley.