'India needs hi-tech defense'

NEW DELHI, INDIA: As the Indian army is grappling in controversies over procurement and alleged bribery offer to its chief VK Singh, the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) believes that defense needs indigenously-developed technology solutions to combat enemies.

Speaking to CIOL, C-DoT director Vipin Tyagi said that the next war would be based on technological warfare, albeit the pace of transformational shift is relative slow in the country.

Video analytics, he said, is an emerging area today. “With extensive use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the preparedness of forces will highly rely on technological advancements,” added Tyagi.

The trends, he believes suggest that multi-channel communications and network security would play a key role in defense, in tandem with high-speed broadband services.

“India needs hi-tech defense, and C-DoT is gearing up to provide end-to-end solutions,” Tyagi said. With in-house development, he said, India can create opportunity for high-end technology sourcing and manufacturing, and can partner with global players.

The centre is deploying GPON (gigabit passive optical network), SDCN (secure and dedicated communication network), NMS (network management system) and BBWT (broadband wireless terminal) for the Indian army.

C-DoT is a government agency that focuses on indigenously-developed technologies. It creates, develops and deploys such technologies and facilitates technology transfer to manufacturers, after initiating pilots.