Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS)

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance.

Why in News?

Recently, At the media briefing on Operation Sindoor, military officers displayed a picture of the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) node of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

• It is an automated command and control system.
• Developed by - Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), the public sector aerospace and defence electronics company.
• Objectives – To integrate data from all air defence assets, including ground-based radar, airborne sensors, civilian radar, communication nodes, and the various command and control centres of the IAF.
• Importance - Consolidated dataset along with real-time updates, provides a comprehensive picture and overall situational awareness during air operations.
• The total battlefield picture enables central control and decentralised execution at various levels.
• By reducing reaction time, it allows military commanders to make early decisions on identification and assessment of threats, and to direct air defence assets to carry out kills.
• It helps in effective airspace management and reduces redundancy.
• It will help achieve the critical integration of all air defence assets to ensure coordinated responses from air defence platforms across the 3 Services.

Multi-layered Deployment of Air Defence Assets

Air defence systems use a complex system of radar, control centres, defensive fighter jets, and ground-based air defence missile, artillery, and electronic warfare systems to neutralise a range of threats from the sky, including enemy aircraft, drones, and missiles.

• Point defence – It comprises low-level air defence guns and shoulder-fired weapons.
• Area defence - It comprises fighter aircraft and long-range missiles.
• Air defence grid – It comprises a range of surveillance radar.
• There are 4-layer air defence umbrella in Indian military system.

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Reference

The Indian Express| Air Defence Shield of Indian Military System

Related News – Air Defence Systems