DRDO hosts first international conference on military wireless communications in Dehradun

New Delhi: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) inaugurated the first international conference on Wireless Communication for Military Applications (Wicomm-26) in Dehradun on Friday. The two-day gathering brings scientists, military personnel, industry specialists and researchers together to examine technologies for secure battlefield connectivity.

The conference, running through Saturday, is being organized by DRDO’s Defence Electronics Applications Laboratory (DEAL) alongside the IEEE Uttar Pradesh Section and Society of Wireless Engineers (SWiCE). NITI Aayog member, Professor Abhay Karandikar, inaugurated it in the presence of national security advisory board member, Dr G Satheesh Reddy, and DRDO director general (electronics and communication systems) Dr BK Das, according to DRDO’s official announcement.

Reliable wireless networks allow forces to exchange battlefield information, connect commanders with troops and coordinate surveillance platforms, drones and operations across land, air and sea. In mountainous or remote areas, they may also provide essential links where civilian networks are absent.

Such systems must keep functioning despite attempts to intercept signals, jam frequencies or disrupt communications. Developing adaptable, secure equipment is therefore an important part of military preparedness, rather than simply improving transmission speeds.

DEAL works on satellite communications, software-defined radios, tactical data links, microwave and millimetre-wave technologies, and troposcatter systems. Software-defined radios can alter key communication functions through software, while troposcatter equipment helps establish connections beyond the normal line of sight.

One indigenous example is DEAL’s Compact Transhorizon Communication System (CTCS), designed to connect remote locations. DRDO specifications describe ranges of up to 60 kilometres in troposcatter mode and 100 kilometres in line-of-sight mode; these are technical capabilities, not announcements from Wicomm-26.

In July 2025, DEAL conducted field trials of its SDR Manpack radio and CTCS in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, with the Ministry of Home Affairs and central armed police forces. DRDO said both systems met user-defined benchmarks under the conditions tested, without announcing their operational induction.

The wider push for interoperability also includes the Indian Radio Software Architecture standard, released by DRDO in collaboration with the armed forces in October 2025 to help software-defined radios work across systems.

DRDO says the conference is intended for technical exchange among laboratories, academia, industry and service personnel. Its inauguration announcement did not report any new procurement contract, deployment or technology-transfer agreement.