Weapon Locating Radar (Swathi) passes through the Rajpath, on the occasion of the 68th Republic Day Parade 2017, in New Delhi on January 26, 2017 (Source: PIB) | Photo Credit: Twitter

New Delhi: In a significant victory for the country’s defence sector, India beat Russia and Poland to bag a $40 million defence deal to supply locally-built weapon locating radars to Armenia in Europe.

The radar system is developed by the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO’s) Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) Bengaluru-based laboratory and manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

“The deal is for supplying four Swathi Weapon Locating Radars developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to Armenia in Europe," government sources told ANI.

India has already begun supplying the radar system to Armenia in a major boost for the government’s ‘Make in India’ programme in the defence sector.

The Armenian side zeroed in for the tried and tested Indian radar system after conducting detailed trials of systems offered by Russia and Poland. As part of the deal, New Delhi will supply four such systems to Yerevan.

The radar system is deployed by the Indian Army along the Line of Control (LoC) to detect incoming artillery fire from Pakistan. Swathi Weapon Locating Radar is mobile artillery locating phased-array radar designed for spotting and tracking artillery and rocket fire for counter-action by artillery units.

It can simultaneously detect multiple projectiles like shells, mortars fired from various locations within a 50-km radius. It is currently with the Army in LoC in Jammu & Kashmir to track the source of shelling from Pakistani positions. It was given to Army for trials in 2018.

