Govt calls on Industry to provide comm solutions to Armed forces

New Delhi, Apr 5 (UNI) The government has called on the Industry to provide affordable communication solutions to the Armed forces, in view of the fact that most armed forces across the world were moving into digitised Battlefield and Network Centric Warfare.

''Defence is a very high priority area and I look forward to the active participation of the private industry and the PSUs in evolving state-of-the-art and affordable solutions for the Defence Forces,'' Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said at the Valedictory session of the three-day seminar on 'Communications in Tactical Battle Area', under DEFCOM India 2006.

The session was jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Corps of Signals, Indian Army.

He added, ''network centric warfare is an emerging concept that seeks to exploit Information and Communication Technology in the battlefield.'' He said the Indian Army was at the threshold of inducting the Tactical Communication System to address the challenges of the battlefield environment and this was an opportunity for industry, as also a great challenge.

Mr Raju stated that the advances made in Information Technology were having a major impact on the military communications and added that conflicts in the information age was all about knowledge, and networked organisations had a distinct advantage in this.

''The endeavour today is to create a battlefield network that is capable of integrating all entities in the battle area,'' he pointed out adding ''the side which attains Information superiority in the battlefield is the one which is going to win.'' The Minister said, ''there was a need for Industry to be fully associated with the defence forces to achieve the required capabilities. The military's need for timely access to cutting edge technology and the availability of commercial products to fill that need has brought the defence forces and private sector closer than ever before.'' Army Headquarters Signal Officer in Chief Lt General Davinder Kumar said, ''we are the second largest army in the world and we need technology that is India-centric, appropriate and affordable.'' Stressing the importance of technology in modern warfare, he stated that net centricity increased the chances of success and the forces needed to continuously update their technology to keep in fighting form.

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