THE JOURNEY OF BUILDING DEFENCE TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITY Dr G. Satheesh Reddy Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development and Chairman, DRDO ROGRESS in science and Today, DRDO has grown into a Materials, Life Sciences, Advanced technology is the very foundation leader in the domain of strategic systems Computing, Warfare Simulation and Pof enhancing the comprehensive and other defence technologies. Starting Training. national power of the country and from the design of simple equipment to strengthening national security in every the development of the most advanced Missiles, Armament and domain. The technological backbone of systems DRDO has continued its Ammunition any armed force of a nation is indigenous quest for indigenous defence systems Starting from the mid-eighties of the defence research and development. development. From the first grant of previous century, the technology In India, the Defence Research and Rs 15 Lakh in 1950 and a yearly budget demonstration of ballistic missiles Development Organisation (DRDO) allocation of Rs 3.17 Crore in 1961-62, has culminated into India’s missile has played a pivotal role in developing DRDO now has a budget allocation of deterrence programme consisting of defence systems encompassing about Rs 20,000 Crore for the fiscal Prithvi and Agni series of ballistic advanced technologies and providing year 2021-22. In spite of the denials missiles meeting different ranges and critical fighting capabilities to the and embargos from various control requirements. India is the seventh armed forces. regimes, DRDO has been persistently country in the world to have long-range The genesis of DRDO can be moving in the direction of defence ballistic missiles. linked to the creation of the Directorate technology growth. India is also the fifth country of Technical Development (DTD) In the process of developing in the world to have developed an in 1945 – post World War II. Two contemporary and advanced systems indigenous ballistic missile defence years later, India became independent for defence, DRDO has acquired programme. Ballistic Missile Defence leading to the appointment of the a large number of inherent diverse systems to intercept targets in exo- Scientific Advisor to the Prime technical capabilities. These include and endo-atmospheres are designed Minister. Establishment of the Defence design, development and integration and developed by DRDO. Mission Science Organisation (DSO) happened of highly complex systems using Shakti, the anti-satellite technology is a in 1948 and under this first laboratory cutting-edge technologies. DRDO milestone towards building the Nation’s was created in 1950. In 1958, the has across various domains of strength to defend its space assets. India Defence Research and Development defence applications – Aeronautics, is the fourth nation in the world to have Organisation (DRDO) was formed by Combat Vehicles, Naval Systems, demonstrated this capability based on merging DSO and DTD, with Scientific Missiles, Armaments, Electronics, indigenous technology. Adviser to Raksha Mantri as its Head. Engineering Systems, Instrumentation, The development of Air-to-Air, DRDO had 10 laboratories at that time. Information Systems, Special Surface-to-Air, Anti-Tank Missiles, August 2021 | Science Reporter | 57 ‘‘DRDO has delivered multiple bridging systems to the Indian Army which are deployed at strategic locations.’’ variant of BrahMos became operational on Su-30MKI fighters of Indian Air Force. Akash Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) is deployed with the Indian Air Force and Indian Army to defend the air space of the country. quick reaction SAM has been developed for mobile air defence applications, which will enter into production shortly. DRDO in partnership with Israeli Aerospace Industries has developed medium range surface to air missile with a longer kill Agni ASAT Interceptor range for the tri-services application. Smart Bombs, Guided Rockets, Air Akash-NG SAM is being designed helicopter-launched short range naval launched Missiles and Anti-Radiation and developed for providing air anti-ship missile and aircraft launched missiles for different segments of defence cover against fighter aircrafts, medium range anti ship missile. Only defence operations has not only helicopters, UAVs, sub-sonic cruise USA, Russia and China have the enhanced our defence capability but missiles and low radar signatures capability to launch anti-ship missiles. given a big boost to our international targets. Long Range Surface-to-Air The long range anti-ship missile image and also saved a large share of Missile is being taken up by DRDO is a land launched medium-range anti- foreign exchange. to increase the air defence against air ship missile, which will be able to ‘Astra’, the first indigenous threats emanating from longer ranges. target naval surface targets. Extended beyond visual range air-to-air missile DRDO has also developed the range anti-submarine rocket is a ship- has enabled India to join the select smart anti-airfield weapon, which is a launched rocket being developed by group of nations that possess a weapon state-of-the-art deep-penetration and DRDO for anti-submarine warfare. of this capability and performance. high explosive glide bomb designed Long Range long range land attack After integration with Su-30MKI to target runways of an airfield from cruise missile is being developed with aircraft, it is planned to be integrated on stand-off distance with great precision. launching capability from ship and land the indigenous Tejas, upgraded Mirage New generation anti-radiation platforms against land targets. 2000 and MiG-29 fighter aircrafts. missile called Rudram series, air-to- Third generation fire and forget Astra Mk-2 with two-pulse ground, long-range, precision, stand- anti-tank missile Nag and Helina propulsion is being developed to off supersonic weapons are being helicopter launched anti-tank missile further enhance the kill zone of Astra developed for varying ranges for are equipped with an infra red imaging Mk-1 missile. Astra Mk-2 will achieve launching from the aircrafts of IAF. seeker with ‘Lock-on Before Launch’ a longer kill range, one of the highest Multiple missiles for Navy are capability. Man-Portable Anti-Tank amongst all air-to-air beyond visual being developed. These include Guided Missile (MPATGM) is in range missiles available across the advanced stage of development. In world thus far. To further increase addition, the laser guided anti tank the ‘kill range’ to nearly double of the missile for MBT is in final stages of Mk-2 and ensure the wider ‘no escape development. zone’, DRDO has successfully tested Stand-off Anti-Tank (SANT) and validated the solid fuel ducted Missile is a helicopter launched anti- ramjet propulsion technology. tank missile equipped with an active BrahMos is the fastest supersonic radar seeker with ‘Lock-on Before cruise missile of its kind in the Launch’ capability. world that can be launched from the India has been building many ground, aircraft and ship. The latest systems for the Indian Army. The Main development is that an air-launched Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun has been Astra 58 | Science Reporter | August 2021 “India is the 7th country in the world to have long-range ballistic missiles; 5th in the world to have developed an indigenous ballistic missile defence programme and 4th nation in the world to have demonstrated anti-satellite technology.” Abhyas tracking & localisation, and artillery developed by DRDO for the Army fire correction. A sophisticated image keeping in view Indian conditions. processing system is used for analysing The tank has been in service with the the images transmitted from the UAV. Indian Army since 2004 and Arjun Rustom-I is an all composite, 800 MK-1(A) is being inducted with many kg class remotely piloted aircraft system improvements over Arjun MK-1. Brahmos having capabilities of Intelligence, The New Generation Main Battle Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Target Tank (NG-MBT) is envisaged as the which has the capability to launch a Acquisition/Tracking and Image futuristic MBT of the Indian Army. salvo of rockets. DRDO has developed Exploitation. Rustom-I is the first It will be a medium tank powered by the extended range Pinaka-ER with Indian remotely piloted system to 1500 HP engine and armed with a improved propulsion and new warhead have conventional take-off and landing 125 mm smoothbore gun. Allelectric configurations. capability. It has autonomous flight turret drive, explosive reactive armour ATAGS 155 mm gun has been mode and Get-to-Home features. and active protection system are being developed with the longest firing Rustom-II is a platform developed for the new generation of range in the world. 155 mm shells being developed for long duration tanks. also have been developed for ATAGS surveillance and reconnaissance, target DRDO has delivered multiple indigenously so that there will not identification, target tracking and bridging systems to the Indian Army be any deficiency. The gun can fire battlefield damage assessment. It can which are deployed at strategic existing ammunition being used by carry a variety of various electro-optical locations. Recently, Mountain Foot erstwhile Bofors and other guns. and intelligence payloads. This will Over Bridge has been developed and An advanced version of the hand provide continuous wide area coverage will be shortly delivered for active use grenade, Multi-Mode Hand Grenade, and yet be able to identify small targets. in the field by production agency. with several security features has been Another multi-mission UAV is being Pinaka free flight rocket system developed and is being produced in developed to carry out Intelligence, has been the workhorse artillery large numbers by Ordnance Factory Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) weapon for the Indian Army for many and private industry. DRDO has also roles. years. Pinaka rockets are launched designed 5.56x30 mm Joint Venture Abhyas being developed is from a multi-barrel rocket launcher Protective Carbine (JVPC) which expendable, low cost, high speed has features like high reliability, low unmanned aerial target fitted with recoil, retractable butt, ergonomic sensors and is GPS enabled.