On 3 March, the Indian MoD issued an RfI seeking information from vendors of high-capacity radio relays (HCRR), with up to 800 units expected to be procured by the military. The MoD stated that these HCRRs would be used in high-altitude, mountainous, plain and desert areas for ‘setting up secure, high-bandwidth point-to-point communication links’.

These radio relays will transmit voice, data and video for the Indian Army in fixed frequencies and using frequency hopping in the tactical battle area. Each system will be operable by three personnel, and consist of radio, antenna and power subsystems.

Currently, the Army is using purely hardware-based separate high frequency, very high frequency and ultra-high frequency radios, which have little or no data capability.

The current radio communication technology is quite old and obsolete. The maintenance of these radio sets is the biggest issue for the corps. Power consumption of these sets is also high. Considering all these aspects, the new HCRR will act as a force multiplier particularly for infantry units, which will use it in their operations extensively.