Dr. Kalam: the Missile Man of India

Odisha Review ISSN 0970-8669 Dr. Kalam: The Missile Man of India Dr. Manas Ranjan Senapati Dr. Ajay Kumar Swain Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (A. P. J.) Abdul referred to as the “People’s President”, he returned Kalam (15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015) was to his civilian life of education, writing and public the11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. A service after a single term. He was a recipient of career scientist turned politician, Kalam was born several prestigious awards, including the Bharat and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, and Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour. studied physics and aerospace engineering. He Democratic India’s missile programme spent the next four decades as a scientist and dates back to the late 1950s, when Jawaharlal science administrator, mainly at the Defence Nehru was the Prime Minister of India and Dr. Research and Development D. S. Kothari was the Scientific Organisation (DRDO) and Abdul Kalam Island, formerly known Advisor to the Defence Indian Space Research as Wheeler Island, is an island off the Minister. In 1958, the Organisation (ISRO) and was coast of Odisha, approximately 150 government of India constituted intimately involved in India’s kilometres (93 mi) from the state capital Bhubaneswar. The Integrated a team of Indian scientists - civilian space programme and Test Range maintaining a missile testing called the Special Weapons military missile development facility is located in the island. In Development Team - to efforts. He thus came to be September 2015, Chief Minister Naveen research guided missile known as the Missile Man of Patnaik declared that the island would be weapons development. India for his work on the renamed to honour the late Indian president, APJ Abdul Kalam. Motivated to strengthen development of ballistic its defences after the missile and launch vehicle technology. He also 1962 Sino-Indian War, and the prevailing played a pivotal organisational, technical, and international scenario of the time, the government political role in India’s Pokhran-II nuclear tests of Independent India renewed its focus on Indian in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by missile technology development. Initially, the India in 1974. scientists of the Special Weapons Development Kalam was elected as the 11th President Team worked from Met Calfe House (New of India in 2002 with the support of both the Delhi), but the establishment later shifted to ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the then- Hyderabad after the state government granted opposition Indian National Congress. Widely them the former Nizam’s army barracks. This was January - 2017 37 ISSN 0970-8669 Odisha Review the genesis of the Defence Research and platform-based inertial navigation system (INS) Development Laboratory (DRDL) – earlier was developed and tested, on board an Avro known as the Special Weapons Development aircraft, in 1974–75. Subsequently, an INS was Team – under DRDO, solely formed for missile built for both missiles and an aircraft, and this was technology research and development. tested in 1979 on board a Canberra aircraft. Its first anti-tank missile was a totally By the start of 1980’s, DRDL had indigenous product, which was successfully test- developed competencies in the fields of fired. The project laid the foundation of India’s propulsion, navigation and manufacture of missile programme and many from this group who materials. Thus, India’s political and scientific were involved in the development of the anti-tank leadership, which included prime minister Indira missile to be used in Sarath ICVs manufactured Gandhi, Defence Minister R. Venkataraman, V.S. at Ordnance Factory Medak, went on to set up Arunachalam (Scientific Advisor to the Defence the Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad Minister), decided that all these technologies in the proximity of the ordnance factory, which should be consolidated. became the production agency of missiles in India. This led to the birth of the Integrated (In the 1970s, SS-11B anti-tank missiles were Guided Missile Development Program and Dr. manufactured under license from France at the Abdul Kalam, who had previously been the BDL.) project director for the SLV-3 programme As Indian science and technology was at ISRO, was inducted as the DRDL Director in curtailed before it became independent, and 1983 to conceive and lead it. He decided that missile technology had developed at a fast pace DRDL would pursue multiple projects in this area after the second world war, India decided to simultaneously. The Agni missile was initially update itself on missile technology by reverse conceived in the IGMDP as a technology engineering a surface-to-air missile. This project demonstrator project in the form of a re-entry was code-named Project Devil and it worked, vehicle, and was later upgraded to a ballistic from 1970 to 1979, on reverse engineering the missile with different ranges. As part of this Russian SAM-2 (which Russia supplied to India). program, the Interim Test Range at Balasore in Dr. B. D. Nag Chaudhri (then Scientific Adviser Orissa was also developed for missile testing. to the Defence Minister) advocated the need to build technologies needed for the future, such as liquid propellant powered engines. Thus, a parallel program called Project Valiant was also initiated to build a rocket engine powered by liquid propellants. V. K. Saraswat was part of the team that built the engine between 1971 – 1974. Dr. Manas Ranjan Senapati, Professor & Head, Department of Chemistry, Trident Academy of Other scientists at DRDO simultaneously Technology, Bhubaneswar-751024, Email : focused on building a guidance package – an dr_senapati@yahoo.com. essential part of a long-range missile that Dr. Ajay Kumar Swain, Dean, Students Welfare, Gandhi determines its path and accuracy to hit a target. A Institute for Technology, Bhubaneswar. 38 January - 2017.

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