The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the procurement of two HimShakti Integrated Electronic Warfare (EW) Systems.

The contract is worth Rs 3,000 crore and will be completed in two years.

The EW system is designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with its manufacturing partner BEL.

The Himshakti EW system is designed for operations in mountainous terrain, with a specific focus on countering Chinese military threats.

The ‘Himshakti’ comes in two different versions. For the Indian Army, it is designed as a CIEWS system, whereas for the IAF it is known as the Ground-Based Mobile ELINT System (GBMES), whose first units were delivered to the IAF on March 18, 2018. The GBMES comprises one Control Station (CS) and three Receiving Stations (RS) integrated in master/slave concept to search, detect, monitor, record and process the hostile emissions as well as to find out the location of the emitter, thereby fulfilling the strategic EW requirements of the IAF. One of the three RS has also been configured to operate in master/slave configuration (with minimal degradation) in the absence of a control station. Each RS contains three ELINT Receiver Segments in the 70 MHz–40 GHz frequency range. In addition, one Communications Intelligence (COMINT) Receiver Segment, operating in 30-1000 MHz frequency range, intercepts and monitors the COMINT signals writes defence analyst Prasan Sengupta in his blog.

The contract was signed under the Buy Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed, and Manufactured) category.

Furthermore, the system is equipped with a low-power ECM chain and Electro-Optical (EO) Sensor subsystem, enabling it to detect and disrupt enemy communications.

The Himshakti project is anticipated to create job opportunities for around three-lakh man-days and promote private sector involvement in India's defence production sector, in keeping with the government's Atmanirbharta (Self-Reliant) initiative.