The Indian Navy’s core group of system engineers have gone a long way in 45 years, from its initial purpose of integrating the various technology on board navy ships to perfecting the indigenous Combat Management System, and are now guiding the force’s journey into the next generation of war-fighting techniques.
The Indian Navy began undertaking warship-building initiatives in state-run shipyards in the middle of the 1960s. While the platforms remained domestically produced, a sizable amount of armaments and sensors were imported from several nations.
As a result, the Weapons and Electronics Systems Organisation (WESO) was founded in July 1978 with the intention of assembling a core of systems engineers to handle the challenge of integrating the varied array of technology on board ships.
The organisation was founded with a group of 20 navy officers, scientists, and personnel. It initially ran out of a rented house in New Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave before moving to Civil Lines.
The indigenous Combat Management System that is installed on board all Indian naval ships, including the homegrown aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, is currently being developed by the Indian Navy’s Weapon and Electronic Systems Engineering Establishment (WESEE).
On board a warship, CMS acts as the nerve centre by integrating sensors like radars, sonars, electronic warfare (EW) systems, and automated identification systems (AIS) with weaponry like cannons, missiles, torpedoes, and rockets.
The organisation is led by a Management Board that includes top officials from the DRDO, MoD, and MoD (Finance), as well as the Chief of Materiel (COM), Indian Navy, and Director General, WESEE. The board is chaired by the Secretary Department of Defence (R&D).
The goal of WESEE is to replace the outdated software-defined radios (SDR) on navy ships with the most up-to-date and native models. An SDR serves as a facilitator for fluid maritime communication with other Indian ships and armed aircraft. Together with DRDO labs, preliminary work on the creation of an indigenous SDR was originally started in 2009.
Systems integration for Project-16 (Godavari class) frigates was the first WESO’s responsibility. The sensors, communications, and armaments onboard the Godavari class ships were a combination of Soviet, Western, and Indian components. The work of systems integration for Godavari needed the development of knowledge in software development, embedded systems, and communication protocols.
Combat Systems Integration, Combat Management Systems, Networking & Data Links, and Cyber Security are the four key areas in which WESEE now conducts business.
The Modular Data Bus (MDB) integration, the creation of MISS boxes, and the system integration of Project-16A (Brahmaputra class), Project-15 (Delhi class), Project-25A (Kora class) and Project-1241RE (Veer class) ships are all accomplishments of the Navy’s organisation.
One of the few facilities in India with permission from the National Cypher Policy Committee to create cryptographic systems for the government is the WESEE’s Cryptography Development Laboratory, which focuses on cyber security.
WESEE was named the Indian Navy’s Integration Authority in 2014. We are now testing with every cutting-edge technology on the market. The technologies in the sector are only useful when there is a user. As a result, we collaborate with the sector. We work with cutting-edge, high-tech innovations including quantum, driverless vehicles, big data, laser communication, and blockchain. Either our staff works inside, or we collaborate with the Indian industry. This encourages the sector to advance its technologies, according to a WESEE officer.
The officer continued, “The domain expertise and experience available at WESEE fills in the gaps in finding the required interfaces to ensure effective utilisation of the potential that the new equipment offers in consonance with the role of the selected platform.
