The Defence Ministry has signed contracts worth ₹4,106 crore for two home-grown weapons systems — a ₹2,563 crore communication satellite for the Air Force and ₹1,543 crore of heavyweight torpedoes for the Navy. Both deals were signed in New Delhi on October 15.
Updated: October 18, 2026, 9:35 AM IST
Quick Read
- The GSAT-7C contract (₹2,563 crore) went to NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), ISRO’s commercial arm. It will be the Indian Air Force’s second dedicated communication satellite.
- The Varunastra contract (₹1,543 crore) went to Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad, for indigenous ship-launched heavyweight anti-submarine torpedoes developed by DRDO.
- The agreements were signed in the presence of A. Anbarasu, Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisition). Both systems are fully designed, developed and manufactured in India.
“This indigenously designed, developed & manufactured satellite will enhance the secure, resilient & seamless communication capabilities for the assets of the Indian Air Force, thereby strengthening operational effectiveness,” the ministry said in a statement.
That’s the official line. Here’s what it actually means, in plain words.
What is GSAT-7C?
Think of GSAT-7C as a phone tower in space — but one that only the Indian Air Force uses, and one that enemies can’t easily listen to or jam.
A military satellite lets aircraft, ground radars, airbases and command centres talk to each other across long distances, even where normal radio signals can’t reach — what the military calls “beyond-line-of-sight” communication. If a fighter jet is flying over the ocean and the base is a thousand kilometres away, ordinary radio won’t connect them. A satellite in geostationary orbit, sitting fixed above one spot on Earth, can.
The IAF already has one such satellite, GSAT-7A, launched in December 2018 with an eight-year designed life. That life is now ending — the satellite is, as The Times of India put it, at the fag end of its operation. GSAT-7C is its successor and partner. Unlike GSAT-7A, which mainly networks big systems (drone control stations, radars, airborne early-warning aircraft), GSAT-7C will set up dedicated real-time links and ground hubs for software-defined radios — the secure, flexible radios frontline units carry.
One detail worth noting: the Defence Acquisition Council cleared GSAT-7C back in November 2021 at ₹2,236 crore. The contract signed now, nearly five years later, costs about 15 per cent more. The ministry hasn’t explained the rise — inflation in aerospace hardware and a bigger scope are the usual suspects, but that’s our reading, not an official reason. The satellite will be designed, developed and launched entirely in India.
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What is Varunastra?
If GSAT-7C is the Air Force’s ears in space, Varunastra is the Navy’s teeth underwater. A torpedo is an underwater missile — launched from a ship or submarine, it travels below the surface and explodes against enemy ships and submarines.
Varunastra is India’s own heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo. It was developed by the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) of the DRDO and is manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited. It joined the Navy in 2016, and this new ₹1,543-crore order buys more of them.
The specs, as reported by Business Standard: it weighs around 1,850 kilograms, can travel at up to 40 knots (about 74 km/h — fast underwater), and has a range of around 40 kilometres. It’s electrically propelled and can hunt submarines in both deep and shallow water. It can be fired from ships and from submarines.
What’s missing from every report so far: the ministry hasn’t said how many torpedoes ₹1,543 crore actually buys. Contract values are public; quantities usually aren’t, for security reasons. So we know the money, not the number.
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Why these deals matter now
Two words keep coming up in the coverage: self-reliance and urgency. Both systems are fully Indian — designed, developed and made here — which fits the government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) push. For the military, home-grown means no foreign supplier can cut you off in a crisis, and no foreign power knows the system’s secrets.
The timing isn’t random either. The New Indian Express reports that the push for sovereign military space capability gained urgency after Operation Sindoor, and the government has since fast-tracked the ₹26,968-crore Space-Based Surveillance (SBS-3) programme to put 52 military satellites in orbit. GSAT-7C is one piece of that bigger picture: India’s armed forces want their own eyes and ears in space, not rented ones.
On the water, the Indian Ocean is getting busier — more foreign submarines, more traffic through choke points. A navy that can hear and hit submarines underwater is a navy that can guard sea lanes. That’s the Varunastra half of the deal.
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FAQs
What did the Defence Ministry sign, and for how much?
Two contracts worth ₹4,106 crore, signed October 15 in New Delhi: ₹2,563 crore with NewSpace India Limited for the GSAT-7C communication satellite for the Indian Air Force, and ₹1,543 crore with Bharat Dynamics Limited for Varunastra heavyweight torpedoes for the Navy.
What is GSAT-7C?
An indigenously built military communication satellite that will give the IAF secure, jam-resistant, beyond-line-of-sight links between aircraft, radars, airbases and command centres. It will be the IAF’s second dedicated satellite, succeeding the ageing GSAT-7A (launched 2018).
What is Varunastra?
A DRDO-developed, BDL-manufactured ship- and submarine-launched heavyweight torpedo that hunts enemy submarines. It weighs ~1,850 kg, reaches 40 knots, and has a range of ~40 km. It was inducted into the Navy in 2016; the new order adds more units, though the exact number hasn’t been disclosed.
