WLR

WLR may refer to:

BEL Weapon Locating Radar

The BEL Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) is a mobile artillery locating Phased array radar developed by India. This counter-battery radar is designed to detect and track incoming artillery and rocket fire to determine the point of origin for Counter-battery fire.

The WLR has been jointly developed by DRDO's Bangalore based laboratory, LRDE and the Government owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The sub-systems have been fabricated by BEL based on the DRDO designs and delivered to LRDE for integration.

History

The Indian army projected a requirement for fire-finding radars in the 1980s. As early as 1989, the Indian Army evaluated the American AN/TPQ-36/37 radars. However, these radars were not allowed to be sold, and the procurement process was stopped by the Government. In February 1995, a Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued to five companies for procurement of 4 WLRs. Only Hughes (now Raytheon) responded to the RFP. After trials, the radar was found to not be meeting the General Staff Quality Requirements (GSQRs) of the Indian Army, which were found to be too stringent, and were relaxed. At the same time, it was decided to consider development of an indigenous WLR by India's primary defence contractor, DRDO.