Chapter Vi: Defence Research and Development Organisation
Report No. 4 of 2014 (Air Force and Navy) CHAPTER VI: DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION 6.1 Qualitative Requirements based projects at Naval DRDO laboratories Scrutiny of 24 projects aimed at achieving indigenisation, undertaken by Navy affiliated DRDO laboratories at a cost of `731.51 crore revealed that 21 projects i.e. 87 per cent, did not adhere to the original timeframe for completion. Seven projects witnessed cost overruns ranging from 38 to 348 per cent. Scrutiny of 12 projects related to critical naval technologies showed delays, technological obsolescence, difference of perceptions between Navy and DRDO on success criteria, delayed communication of QRs and frequent changes in QRs by Navy contributing to failure in actual induction of indigenously developed capability. 6.1.1 Introduction Research and Development activities need to be dynamic in order to cope with the highly complex and technology intensive requirements of the Navy. The development of equipment, sonar systems, underwater weapons and materials for naval platforms such as ships, submarines and aircrafts require incorporation and integration of multi-disciplinary technologies. To achieve this, the Directorate of Naval Research & Development (DNRD) at DRDO HQ acts as the interface and facilitates effective interaction between Indian Navy and DRDO Labs. The Directorate deals with technologies in areas such as underwater Weapons, underwater Sensors, Naval Materials and Marine Biology, underwater Ranges, Oceanography, Ship Hydrodynamics and Structure, and Fuel Cell and Marine Stealth. DRDO has a network of three naval laboratories, viz. Naval Material Research Laboratory (NMRL), Ambernath with competency in metallurgy, polymer science and technology; Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), Kochi engaged in the design and development of underwater ______________________________________________________________ 134 Report No.
[Show full text]