DRDO To Unveil IRSA 2.0 Soon, New Software-Defined Radio For IAF By Year-End

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is set to roll out the next version of the indigenous Indian Radio Software Architecture (IRSA 2.0) standard soon, which will enable seamless interoperability in military communication across the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The new version has been developed by DRDO’s Defence Electronics Applications Laboratory (DEAL) under a tri-service initiative. It builds on IRSA 1.0, which was released in October last year as the country’s first national software architecture standard for military software-defined radios (SDRs).

Besides laying down software specifications for SDRs, IRSA also defines standardised interfaces, application programming interfaces (APIs), execution environments and waveform portability mechanisms. The architecture is designed to ensure waveform portability, SDR interoperability and certification and conformance across platforms.

DRDO’s director general for electronic communication systems, Dr B K Das told Outlook that the next iteration is under development and will incorporate new waveforms and operational enhancements sought by the armed forces. He said this while outlining DRDO’s parallel effort to develop indigenous SDRs for all three services.

DRDO is also expected to bring out a new SDR for the Indian Air Force (IAF) by the end of this year. Das said DRDO expects to develop the waveform within this timeframe, marking a further step towards secure, flexible and interoperable communication systems for the armed forces.

The IAF currently operates imported SDRs, including on its Russian-origin Sukhoi fighter jets. Das said that regardless of which SDRs the services use, they must conform to the IRSA standard and be interoperable between the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The Navy is already operating a DRDO-developed SDR, Tac (Tactical). For the Army, DRDO has completed development and testing of an SDR system, with the “manpack” variant, piloted by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), having completed field trials. Das said the programme has now entered its final stages before induction.

DRDO’s broader objective, according to Dr Das, is to connect every arm and unit of the armed forces through a common communication architecture, regardless of the radio platform in use.

The push for an indigenous IRSA standard and home-grown SDRs stems from India’s reliance on imported, proprietary radios that often cannot interoperate between the Army, Navy and Air Force, leaving joint operations vulnerable to communication gaps.

Foreign-built systems also carry the risk of vendor lock-in, since spares, upgrades and technical support depend on the original manufacturer and could be disrupted during a conflict or under sanctions, while their encryption and waveform design remain largely outside the forces’ control.

An indigenous architecture addresses this by allowing India to define its own waveforms, encryption schemes and certification standards, ensuring any IRSA-compliant radio – regardless of manufacturer – can be reconfigured and made interoperable across services.