Army lays groundwork for developing futuristic communication system

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 22

With the increasing dominance of the electronic spectrum, cyber warfare and artificial intelligence, the Army has laid the groundwork to introduce a futuristic communication system for providing secure and seamless interconnectivity between its warfighting elements and also enhance situational awareness.

“The Indian Army is planning a LTE-based communication grid with Internet of Military Things (IoMT) sensor network for providing failsafe, robust and secure communication to its formations and units along the northern and eastern borders,” a request for information floated a few days ago states.

This will require designing and developing, with industry support, a communication grid with its radio access network, core network and IoMT compatible network along with sensors and interfaces to provide surveillance, situational awareness, sensor network and compatible interfaces for legacy surveillance devices currently in the Army’s inventory.

Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices that increases the capacity and speed of data transfer and provides several add-on facilities. IoMT is a type of Internet of Things designed for combat operations and warfare based upon smart technology and artificial intelligence. It comprises a complex network of interconnected entities in the military domain that continually communicate with each other to accomplish a broad range of activities in a more efficient and informed manner.

The network would facilitate a state of the art mobile communication and sensor network for troops operating in a counter-insurgency environment, rugged mountains and jungles overlooking the Line of Control and international borders through the use of handheld communication devices and e-tabs.

The project envisions high grade and reliable mobile communication with a layer of security for voice, data and video communication to make the traffic secure and make the network free from the possibility of intrusion and interception, prevent unauthorized access.

The proposed LTE-based communication grid with IoMT sensor network will also be capable of interoperability with existing mobile communication network and would be integrated into the armed forces’ current and futuristic communication infrastructure and networks.

It will also have an IoMT sensor network, seismic, pressure and ultrasonic ground sensors autonomous UAVs and drones, information nodes, helmet-mounted cameras and interfaces for current surveillance equipment as well as an ecosystem for controlling and monitoring the sensor data from all IoMT devices.

Only Indian vendors and those who tie-ups with foreign original equipment manufacturers having their registered offices along with operations, maintenance and repair infrastructure in India would be allowed to participate in the project.