Aero India 2023: BEL displays advanced HF manpack radio

BEL unveiled a new manpack version of its HF SDR at the Aero India 2023 show in Bangalore. (Janes/Rakend P)

India’s state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) unveiled a manpack version of its newly launched high-frequency software-defined radio (HF SDR) at the Aero India 2023 show in Bangalore, which was held from 13 to 17 February.

The radio operates in an HF band range of 1.5–30 MHz, with a maximum transmit power of 20 W. According to BEL, the radio features clear, secure, and frequency-hopping (FH) modes for voice, data, and flash message transmission.

The 2G-ALE (Automatic Link Establishment) and 3G-ALE features are also provided in the system to enable optimum frequency selection in establishing connectivity in a network-degraded environment.

The ALE and FH features enable the HF SDR to perform uninterrupted communication under dense jamming environments during tactical missions.

BEL told Janes that the Indian Armed Forces have shown interest in the product. BEL also confirmed that the radio is compliant with Software Communications Architecture (SCA) version 4.1 specifications.