India's armed forces are revamping their legacy communication system to fight a war in the net–centric battlespace. Previous attempts to overhaul the communication system through a global tender, however, have failed for unknown reasons.

The Indian Army has announced the replacement of its Combat Net Radio (CNR) with state-of-the-art software defined radios (SDRs), which Indian companies will manufacture.

The present radio sets in the Indian Army are hardware-based, with separate radio sets for High Frequency, Very High, and Ultra High frequencies.

“The legacy radio sets have little or no data capability, thereby restricting the proliferation of network-centric operations. The High-Frequency SDR will address these operational and technological voids,” a document issued by the Indian Army read.

The SDR will have enhanced data transmission capability, enhanced voice clarity, and data transmission accuracy in spectrally noisy environments. The state-of-the-art system supports multiple waveforms, making the communications harder to detect and jam using enemy radar.

The High-Frequency SDR will also have provisions for interoperability with legacy systems, with the ability to add, remove, or modify the systems' output.

Currently, India's public sector defence firms, the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation and the military's research and development labs have been working towards developing a family of modular and interoperable SDRs versions.

With the creation of theatre commands to fight the next wars in an integrated manner, the armed forces have been pushing for an interoperable communication system.