DAC Clears ₹1,000 Crore for GBMES to Enhance India’s ELINT Capability

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Thursday granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for defence procurement proposals worth nearly ₹79,000 crore (about $9 billion) for the three services. The approvals cover a broad slate of capital acquisitions — from amphibious ships and missiles to surveillance and electronic-intelligence systems — intended to strengthen combat readiness and India’s indigenous defence-industrial base.

Among the items cleared, the DAC approved an allocation of roughly ₹1,000 crore for an upgraded Ground‑Based Mobile ELINT System (GBMES) for the Indian Army/IAF — a mobile electronic‑intelligence capability designed to detect, monitor, classify and geolocate hostile electronic emitters such as radars, communications nodes, and jammers. GBMES is listed among the Army’s priority acquisitions.

What GBMES will bring — operationally and tactically

GBMES is a force multiplier for electronic intelligence (ELINT) and electronic warfare (EW). The system’s core functions — detecting emitter activity, identifying signal characteristics and fixing emitter location — provide commanders with an “electronic order of battle”: where enemy radars and communications are, what frequencies they use, and when they are active. That information is crucial for planning strikes, suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD), route planning, and force protection.

Because GBMES is mobile, it can be redeployed across sectors (mountains, deserts, plains, and border belts), giving commanders a persistent, flexible ELINT posture rather than a network of fixed listening posts. Mobility improves survivability and allows forces to tailor ELINT coverage to shifting operational priorities and terrain.

How GBMES works (architecture and techniques)

The existing generation of GBMES-type systems — and the upgraded variants the DAC has funded — typically combine three broad elements: distributed receivers, a command/control station, and analysis/processing suites.

• Receiving Stations (RS): Multiple spatially separated receiver vans/units scan radio‑frequency bands continuously to detect and record emissions (radar pulses, datalinks, voice/data transmissions). By deploying several receivers, the system can use time‑difference‑of‑arrival (TDOA) and angle‑of‑arrival (AOA) techniques to triangulate an emitter’s position.

• Control Station (CS) & Processing: The CS synchronises the receivers, runs signal‑processing algorithms to extract pulse descriptors (PRI, pulse width, carrier frequency, modulation), and performs emitter classification and geo-location. Modern GBMES installations include automated signal libraries and machine-assisted classification to match signatures to known radar/communications types.

• Emitter Location & Correlation: Using AOA bearings, TDOA timing differences, and multilateration, the system computes emitter coordinates. GIS overlays and fusion with other ISR sources (satellite imagery, UAV feeds, human reports) refine accuracy.

Operational effects and systems integration

• Fire-control and weapons cueing: Location fixes from GBMES can be fed into fire-control systems (FCS) and indirect fire platforms — artillery, rockets, or missile systems — to cue precision fires against emitters or pre‑plan SEAD strikes.

• Electronic warfare (offense & defence): Knowing emitter characteristics lets EW operators select appropriate jamming waveforms, employ tailored spoofing/decoy techniques, or harden own systems against likely interference. GBMES thus lays the groundwork for both offensive EW and defensive measures.

• Tactical tempo & decision advantage: Continuous monitoring of adversary emitters gives commanders advance warning of activity surges and contributes to deception detection and campaign-level situational awareness.

Why a ₹1,000-crore investment matters

An investment of this scale signals a move from niche deployments toward more widespread, modernised GBMES formations — with improved receivers, better timing/synchronisation hardware, larger signal libraries, greater automation, and secure datalinks for real-time sharing across formations. That shortens the kill-chain between detection and action and improves the survivability of friendly forces.

Indigenous design and industrial impact

Past GBMES efforts in India have involved DRDO and domestic firms for development and production of ELINT/EW suites; the DAC’s approval aligns with the government’s push for “Make in India” in defence, and with other recent procurements aimed at strengthening indigenous production lines and technology absorption.