MoD Inks Rs.4,106 Crore Deals to Acquire Communication Satellite
The defense ministry finalized two contracts totaling approximately Rs.4,106 crore to provide the Indian Air Force (IAF) with a dedicated communication satellite and to supply the Indian Navy with additional Varunastra heavyweight torpedoes.
The contracts were executed in New Delhi with the additional secretary and director general (acquisition), A Anbarasu, present.
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The bigger of the two, costing Rs.2,563 crore, is designated for the GSAT-7C satellite. It was executed with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Bengaluru. The contract worth Rs.1,543 crore for Varunastra torpedoes was awarded to Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in Hyderabad.
The ministry's statement indicated that the satellite, created, developed, and produced in India, will enhance the secure, resilient, and seamless communication of IAF resources, thereby boosting operational efficiency. It characterized the torpedo order as an enhancement to naval security and a move towards indigenizing sophisticated military technology.
GSAT-7C is designed to provide the Air Force with a secure communication link beyond the line of sight, allowing aircraft, ground stations, and units to remain connected even in areas where terrain or the radio horizon would disrupt contact. It focuses on safeguarding software-defined radio connections, which are radios whose operations are determined by software and can be modified or encrypted more adaptively than traditional hardware.
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The initiative is not recent. The Defense Acquisition Council initially approved it in November 2021 for Rs.2,236 crore, encompassing the satellite and ground stations for real-time connectivity. The most recent update does not indicate if the new contract encompasses those ground hubs or the launch. The satellite travels along a defined path. On December 19, 2018, the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) launched GSAT-7A for the Army and Air Force, following the Navy's GSAT-7.
In contrast to those, GSAT-7C will exclusively support the IAF, providing it with a network under its control rather than one that is shared among services or rented commercially. Varunastra is a torpedo launched from ships and powered by electricity, designed for submarine hunting. It was created by the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) in Visakhapatnam, which is a Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) lab, and is produced by BDL.
The armament measures 533 mm across and is almost 7.8 meters in length. BDL specifies an operational depth ranging from 8 to 600 metres and a maximum speed of 40 knots. Publicly available estimates place its range at approximately 40 km and the warhead weight at around 250 kg, although the ministry has not verified these claims. The torpedo targets acoustically and employs autonomous guidance along with countermeasure-resistance capabilities, featuring over 95 percent indigenous content.
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The Varunastra was first acquired by the Navy in 2016. It is designed for destroyers, frigates, and anti-submarine corvettes that possess heavyweight torpedoes. This is not BDL’s initial order: a contract valued at Rs.1,187.82 crore for the weapon was established in 2019, with manufacturing at BDL’s Visakhapatnam facility.
The Defense Acquisition Council has also sanctioned the purchase of extra Varunastra torpedoes in 2025, as part of eight proposals totaling more than Rs.54,000 crore.
Both agreements align with the government's drive for self-sufficiency in defense through 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' and 'Make in India'. The satellite minimizes reliance on shared or commercial connections for sensitive communications in the Air Force. For the Navy, the directive enhances its anti-submarine abilities as additional submarines function in the Indian Ocean area.