LRMFR - India's Future Multifunction Radar

[Gessler]

Thought I'll create a thread to track this program.

A bit of intro...the LRMFR (Long-Range Multi-Function Radar) is a program designed to develop a new MFR primarily for the Indian Navy, though land-based applications also appear to be in the works (that version is known as the HPR or High-Power Radar). LRDE (part of DRDO) is the primary development agency, Astra Microwave appears to be the primary production contractor.

What immediately caught my eye is that the array size is quite massive...6 meters top to bottom. Easily the biggest among its contemporaries. The most plausible implementation (though I don't think it's officially stated anywhere) appears to be the upcoming Next-Generation Destroyer (NGD) program, unofficially known as the Project-18 DDG. So this LRMFR would likely supplant the role prominently played by the Israeli EL/M-2248 MF-STAR on the current generation of Indian principle surface combatants.











A housing for this radar (in its dual-panel test config) has appeared at the Near Field Test Range (NFTR), Kolar in southern India:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1894309512330580130

View: https://x.com/Flankerchan/status/1894309512330580130?s=20

 

[Gessler]

The INS Anvesh, a 11,000-ton test & evaluation ship of the Indian Navy commissioned in 2022 appears to be the platform on which the LRMFR is to be installed & tested. Not just the radar, but also the AD-1/AD-2 interceptors (part of BMD Phase-II program) housed in a large VLS toward the rear but let's stay focused on the radar for now.











Overall, the INS Anvesh appears to be intended for performing a role similar to the old USS Norton Sound, on which the AEGIS system, the first SPY radar and Mk.41 VLS was tested: