Five years from yes to signature: the satellite and the torpedo India just bought for Rs 4,106 crore

Two problems: talking safely, and hunting quietly

Ordinary military radios work in line of sight. If a mountain is in the way, the message stops. A satellite overhead can relay it over the mountain.

That is what GSAT-7C was approved for: secure links for the forces' radios beyond line of sight, in all circumstances.²

Under the sea the problem is different. Modern submarines are quiet and hard to find. A ship that finds one needs a weapon that can reach it at long range, even when the submarine is trying to fool it.³¹

The satellite: approved in 2021

On 23 November 2021 the Defence Acquisition Council approved GSAT-7C and its ground hubs for the Air Force at Rs 2,236 crore, to be designed, developed and launched entirely in India.²

The contract took almost five years. It was signed on 15 October 2026: Rs 2,563 crore with New Space India Limited, Bengaluru, for a satellite the ministry says will give Air Force assets secure, resilient and seamless communication.¹

That is Rs 327 crore, or about 15%, more than the 2021 approval. The releases do not explain the difference, and the two may not cover the same scope: the 2021 approval named the satellite and ground hubs.¹²

The New Indian Express described it as the Air Force getting a second satellite. The ministry's release does not use that phrase.⁵

The torpedo: ten years in service

Varunastra's story starts on 29 June 2016, when it was handed to the Navy. It is a heavyweight torpedo fired from ships, developed by DRDO's Naval Science and Technological Laboratory in Visakhapatnam and produced by Bharat Dynamics. The minister then cited 95% Indian content.³

The 2016 release said it could target quiet, stealthy submarines in deep and coastal water, even against heavy countermeasures, the tricks a submarine uses to throw a torpedo off.³

The new Rs 1,543 crore contract buys more. The ministry says its manoeuvring lets it engage submarines at long range. It does not say how many torpedoes the contract buys.¹

What could still go wrong?

A contract is not a satellite in orbit. The release gives no build or launch date for GSAT-7C, and no delivery numbers or dates for the torpedoes.¹

Both are Indian designs, built by Indian public sector companies, and both took years to reach this signature. DD News framed the pair as secure communication in space and anti submarine warfare under the ocean. The next test is how fast they move from paper to service.⁴¹