Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation

Defence Research and Development Organisation

The Defence Research and Development Organisation is a agency of the Republic of India, responsible for the development of technology for use by the military, headquartered in New Delhi, India...

 (DRDO). Located in Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

, Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

, it is the main DRDO lab involved in the Research & Development of Airborne Electronic Warfare

Electronic warfare

Electronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...

 and Mission Avionics

Avionics

Avionics are electronic systems used on aircraft, artificial satellites and spacecraft.Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems and the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to meet individual roles...

 systems.

History

DARE was established in 1986 as a Project Laboratory, then named "Advanced Systems Integration and Evaluation Organisation" (ASIEO). On June 1, 2001, it became a full fledged DRDO lab, and was renamed as DARE.

On 1st of july'08, Dr. U.K.Revankar taken over as Director. DARE was headed by Dr. K.G. Narayanan from 1986-2002. On January 18, 2002, R.P. Ramalingam was appointed as Director and retired in june'08.

Areas of Work

DARE has two major wings– the Electronic Warfare (EW) wing and the Mission Avionics Wing (MAW). The EW wing concentrates on development of Radar Warning Systems

Radar warning receiver

Radar warning receiver systems detect the radio emissions of radar systems. Their primary purpose is to issue a warning when a radar signal that might be a threat is detected. The warning can then be used, manually or automatically, to evade the detected threat...

 and EW suites for aircraft. The MAW conducts Research and Development in the area of Mission Avionics. In addition to development, DARE also conducts testing and integration of the systems into aircraft.

Achievements

DRDO's avionics program has been a success story; DARE being the lead designer in several of these efforts. Its Mission computers, radar warning receivers, high accuracy direction finding pods, airborne jammers, flight instrumentation, are used across a wide variety of Indian Air Force aircraft. The organization began developing these various items for its upgrades, and for the LCA project

HAL Tejas

The HAL Tejas is a lightweight multirole fighter developed by India. It is a tailless, compound delta-wing design powered by a single engine. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters...

. Variants were then developed for other aircraft.

The DRDO is also codeveloping more advanced avionics for the Light Combat Aircraft and the IAF's combat fleet. These include a range of powerful Open Architecture computers, better Defensive avionics including modern RWR's, Self protection jammers, Missile approach warning systems and integrated defensive suites, Optronics systems (such as Infrared search and track systems) and navigational systems such as Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial navigational systems.

Some products developed by DARE include:

• AEW Systems: Built for Indian Air Force and Navy aircraft, these consist of Electronic Support Measures and Self-Protection Jammers.

• Radar Warning Systems
  Radar warning receiver
  Radar warning receiver systems detect the radio emissions of radar systems. Their primary purpose is to issue a warning when a radar signal that might be a threat is detected. The warning can then be used, manually or automatically, to evade the detected threat...
  
  : Developed for fighter aircraft in 1997. The units are being produced by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for use in all IAF
  Indian Air Force
  The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...
  
   and Indian Navy
  Indian Navy
  The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
  
   aircraft & Helicopters.

• Mission Avionics: DARE hasdeveloped the Mission computers and avionics for various aircraft, including the HAL Tejas
  HAL Tejas
  The HAL Tejas is a lightweight multirole fighter developed by India. It is a tailless, compound delta-wing design powered by a single engine. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters...
  
  , Jaguar DARIN-II and the Su-30MKI
  Su-30MKI
  The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is an air superiority fighter jointly developed by Russia's Sukhoi and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the Indian Air Force...
  
  . The mission avionics includes a Mission Computer, Display Processor and Radar Computer. All have been indigenously developed, and represent major breakthroughs in achieving technical proficiency in these technologies.