Bharat Rakshak

Despite these advances, the potential for HAL to
successfully partner with U.S. firms on a truly advanced
aircraft remains untested and suspect. The Hawk program,
which involves the assembly of aircraft from kits supplied by
BAE, is well behind schedule. BAE has told Embassy staff
that the Indian Air Force did not order sufficient spare
parts for the first batch of Hawks that were delivered fully
assembled from England. BAE technicians supervising work at
HAL became aware that parts were being taken from the kits
intended to assemble new aircraft and used instead as
replacement parts for aircraft already delivered. Lack of
controls left BAE unsure what parts were now missing from the
kits. When BAE confronted HAL regarding the problem, the BAE
technical staff was asked to leave HAL. Clearly, despite the
progress evident within the Indian Defense sector, American
firms need to approach partnerships carefully to understand
the management and technological experience of Indian firms.
Cost, schedule and quality will be key challenges for any
company engaging in joint production ventures.

and one can believe the report

A glimpse of what DRDO ISSA does;

My experiences at DRDO

A glimpse of what DRDO ISSA does;

My experiences at DRDO

please do elaborate in detail how you came to the conclusion that parakram exposed flaws in what ISSA does.

And yet when push came to shove during Operation Parakram fundamental flaws were exposed.

please do elaborate in detail how you came to the conclusion that parakram exposed flaws in what ISSA does.

chacko, thanks a lot. fascinating article that.

My experiences at DRDO

Strategic Decision Making: Applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (Decision Engineering): Navneet Bhushan, Kanwal Rai

IndiaSpend carried out a 10-year study of available figures and found DRDO seemingly achieved a lot, with little. The fact is for approximately $14 billion in 10 years, India has seemingly developed various kinds of missiles, drones, radar systems and carried out all kinds of research and upgradation on armaments and fighting gear.

In contrast, USA's unmanned aerial vehicle projects, the UAV Predator and the UAV Reaper, alone have a total project cost of $2.38 billion and $11.8 billion, respectively. On the other hand, the Trident II, has a total programme cost of $39 billion, the Tactical Tomahawk Cruise Missile has a cost of $6.8 billion and the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) has a total project cost of $5.7 billion, according to http://www.costofwar.com.

few achievements

Missile systems
Surface-to-surface Prithvi II missile was successfully flight tested, that too, with accuracy on June 9, 2011. We already have three versions of Prithvi, with ranges of 150 km, 250 km and 350 km.

Agni I successfully flight tested on December 1, 2011, and Agni II on September 30, 2011. Agni IV was test-fired on November 15, 2011, and Agni V was successfully launched last week.

Long-range, surface-to-air missile, a joint initiative between the Navy and Israel, is complete and under delivery.

Medium-range surface-to-air missile, an initiative between the Air Force and IAI, Israel, was developed.

Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile is developed for the Army, Navy and Air Force and already installed in four ships. It is also being installed in five more naval ships. The installation of Brahmos in Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter planes is in progress.

The indigenously developed Astra Missile is completed, and flight trials on Sukhoi 30 MKI's are completed.
Surface-to-surface missile Prahaar successfully flight tested on July, 21 2011, and has achieved terminal accuracy.

Helina, an anti-tank missile for advanced light helicopters, undertook a flight trial on October 17, 2011.

Shaurya Missile, with a range of 700 km, was launched on September 24, 2011, and has achieved accuracy.

Aeronautics
The medium-altitude, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Rustom I was indigenously developed and has seen successful flight tests.

The Airborne Early Warning and Control System was indigenously produced and took its first flight on December 6, 2011. It includes active electronic and radar scanning antenna and is considered a major milestone. India is now one of the select countries that have this system.


Electronics
Rohini, the three-dimensional surveillance radar system, was developed for the Air Force. It is built in accordance with the latest digital technology and would increase airspace awareness manifold.

Revathi, another surveillance radar system, is developed for Navy with highly optimised structure and accuracy.

These are a few important achievements of the DRDO in 2011. However, the list does not end here. The specialty of DRDO lies on other aspects of the defence services as well.

Data Analysis and Pattern Recognition has been developed and handed to the Navy. This is aimed at creating a database that would analyse data mining and statistical testing.

Varuna, an interceptor, has been installed and given to the Navy. It can detect and intercept the activity of 500 radar emitters simultaneously.

Stride, a convoy jammer system is developed and used by the Army and paramilitary forces. It can prevent detonation of radio controlled improvised explosive devices or IEDs.

110 Arjun Tanks have been handed to the Army till now, compared with the 124 demanded previously. A total of 90 per cent of the Arjun Tanks were indigenously developed at the Indian Ordinance Factory in Avadi, Chennai, by the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, a wing of the DRDO. It is estimated to cost approximately Rs 2,500 crore. The remaining 14 tanks would be handed over by mid- 2012.

Power output of T 72 tanks has been upgraded from 780 hp to 1,000 hp to enhance mobility.

INSAS rifle and LMGs have been redesigned to increase lethality. The Army has already carried out user trials.

Available from the usual shady sources onlee

Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) - 'Daksh' has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to defuse Improvised Explosive Devices (lEDs). It has stair climbing capability. It is equipped with a manipulator arm which can handle suspected object upto 20 kg from a distance of 2.5 m. Portable X-Ray system confirms the presence of IED and on-board Water Jet Disrupter is used to defuse it on site.

Army has placed a Limited Series Production Order of 20 Daksh, nine have already been delivered.

The project Daksh was sanctioned in November 2002 at a total cost of Rs.3.5 Cr.

This information was given by Minister of Defence Shri A K Antony in a written reply to Dr.ShashiTharoor in Lok Sabha today.

With the Indian Navy likely to issue request for proposals (RFPs) for the long awaited follow-on Project 75 India submarine build effort, pressure is building for a quick decision on two counts. On the one hand, the Indian Navy's submarine strength is on a downslide and operational availability continues to be a concern. On the other, there is a conscious effort to ensure that the redundancy encountered following the HDW episode in the 1990s is not repeated again.

In fact, providing testimony to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence recently, Mazagon Dock Ltd Chairman Vice Admiral (Retd) H.S. Malhi said, "Our Hull shops, particularly for the submarine construction, we will start oiling after we finish these six (Scorpenes). So, it will help us if we get the repeat order. So, our request as CMD would be that if that is ordered early on us, we will be able to retain the expertise because it takes a long time to build up expertise on submarine construction. We have already suffered in the past when there was a gap between the SSK and Scorpene. So, we would not like that to repeat. That is a request. That is all from my side."

The first of the six Scorpene submarines being constructed at MDL is to be delivered by June 2015 and the final one by September 2018. MDL is concurrently building all six submarines. According to figures supplied to Parliament, the present status of work completed on the six submarines ranges from 2.45 per cent to 54.84 per cent.

Our babus are learning by experience, it's the best way but the costliest as well.

I guess they should switch to good old Linux or some sort of derivative which is made completely secure. I am sure our ITvity folks have more than the skills necessary to do that, they should look into the tapping those skills.

^^^Roperia quoted an ex navy guy and then concluded that our babus are learning from past mistakes which I think is not the case. I don't have anything against MDL, additional orders means business for them and technological capability for India, between has any sub design been selected for project 75I ???

BANGALORE: Here's an indigenous cochlear implant to enable severely hearing-impaired people to hear. Scientists at Bangalore's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) lab -- Defence Bio-engineering and Electro-Medical Laboratory (Debel) -- under the leadership of Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Vishakapatnam, developed this surgically implanted electronic device.

It will convey sound to people severely hard of hearing due to loss of sensory hair cells in the cochlea. "The implant, also known as the bionic ear, will be available for clinical trials within four months. After trials at five centres in the country, the implant will be used for commercial production," said chief designer V Bhujanga Rao of NSTL and DRDO scientist VK Atre.

Atre said: "These are three distinct groups of potential users. They may have lost hearing due to diseases such as meningitis. The implant will serve different needs and have different outcomes."

As per DRDO estimates, nearly 1 million people in India need cochlear implants. "Every year, around 10,000 hearing-impaired children are born. Unfortunately, an imported cochlear implant is very expensive -- priced between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. Only the affluent can afford it," DRDO scientists said.

As per initial estimates, the DRDO implant will be available for around Rs 1 lakh. Bhujanga Rao collaborated with scientists from Bangalore, Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group (Hyderabad), and Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam, to develop the device.

The AeSI has selected Mr Muthukrishnan Kannan of RCI for the prestigious Swarna Jayanthi Award for his outstanding contributions valuable contributions in the development of Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) of various class for missiles, aircrafts, ships and submarines. He has been the group head of INS division since 2010. He has also headed the INS team for BrahMos Cruise Missile and was the project lead for Indigenous Navigation Systems for Naval Ships.
In his present designation as Group Head, INS division he plays a pivotal role in many ongoing projects such as development of Ring Laser Gyro (RLG) based INS+GPS+GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) systems. The technology is used in Agni-iii, HAL Tejas, and Shaurya missile. He was also responsible for development, testing, performance evaluation and delivery of INS for Brahmos Missiles.
As a systems developer Kannan was responsible for the Development, testing, Performance Evaluation and Delivery of Navigation System for AD (AD-1 and AD-2 are being developed as intercept ballistic missiles with a range of 5000 kilometers) Mission as well as the Prototype System Development and Flight Performance Evaluation of the system. He was also involved He was the project leader for “Indigenous Navigation System for Naval War ships i.e. a system purpose is also to serve as a Master INS system for ship-launched versions of missiles.
Kannan passed B.E in electronics and communication from Madurai Kamraj University and M.E in avionics from Anna University and joined RCI (Research Center Imarat) on June 1997 with the designation a “scientist B”. He has been in RCI ever since. He became a “C” scientist in 2000, D grade scientist in 2004 and an E grade scientist in July 2008. The distinguished scientist also has a plethora of publications to his credit. A few of them are Quick Reaction Strap down INS for Brahmos, INS+GPS integrated system for canisterized missiles, Micro machined Accelerometer Systems. Some of his commendable achievements are the designing and development of the first DTG based integrated INS+SATNAV scheme & system (for Programme AD), which turned out to be the precursor for the other versions of Integrated INS+SATNAV systems developed for all the other strategic and tactical missile programmes of DRDO. Another achievement was the development of DTG based Quick Reaction INS for the Indo-Russian Joint Venture BrahMos missile project. He was also involved in periodic re- calibration of BrahMos INS.
Kannan Muthukrishnan has also received Agni award for excellence in self reliance for the year 2008 for contributions towards development of Navigation system for Air Defense (AD) missile as well as well as award of RCI for the year 2010.He is also a life member of Astronautical Society of India and Sensors Research Society.

Pune:The Ammunition Factory Khadki here on Thursday handed over the first lot of 'Kavach' naval decoy system and anti-submarine rockets for induction into the Indian Navy-a step that will reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.

Receiving the decoy system, Naval Armament Inspectorate Director General Rear Admiral Brijesh Jhang praised the synergy between the Indian Navy and the Ordnance Factory Board in developing products indigenously.

"The Indian Navy had ASW (anti-submarine weapons) imported from erstwhile USSR. Disintegration of USSR led to drying up of the supply pipeline thereby affecting our inventory level while our ships continued to have the launchers.

"Therefore to meet our armament requirement Ordnance Factory Board and Indian Navy took up the challenge to indigenise these ASW rockets and achieve self-reliance in this field," he said.

While handing over to the Indian Navy both the Kavach decoy systems and the anti-submarine rocket high explosive version, B.N. Singh, senior general manager of the ammunition factory said these strategically important products would enhance the defence preparedness of the navy.

This has been possible owing to the special focus laid down at Ammunition Factory Khadki on research and development," Singh said.

The rockets are made available with 1.5 km and 6 km range while the factory has been successful in developing three versions of naval decoy systems having ranges of 12 km, 5 km and 1 km.

These rockets are fired to act as decoys against incoming guided threats to naval ships. All the three versions are launched in different situations based on incoming threats.

HAL Statement: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has signed a tripartite General Contract with United Aircraft Corporation -Transport Aircraft (UAC-TA), their Russian partner and their JV, Multirole Transport Aircraft Ltd (MTAL) for the Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA) project.

HAL will carry out the design & development of its workshare of MTA at Aircraft R&D (ARDC) Centre at Bangalore while its Transport Aircraft Division (TAD) at Kanpur will manufacture the prototypes. Serial production will take place at Kanpur where dedicated facilities are being set up. HAL's other R&D Centres and manufacturing divisions will share development of systems & LRUs and manufacture of components, sub assemblies and composite structure. HAL will showcase its expertise in design of aircraft as well as systems, manufacturing & flight testing while jointly working with the Russian team in Moscow as well as in India.

The Indian and Russian governments had earlier signed an Inter Governmental Agreement for joint design, development & production of MTA on 50:50 sharing basis and had decided to form a JV between HAL, UAC-TA & Rosoboronexport to execute the project. The primary objective is to achieve self-reliance in design & development and production of aircraft of this size and also to manage the programme with international collaboration and a large number of global suppliers.

The aircraft will be designed for the roles of cargo/troop transportation; para-drop /air drop of supplies including Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System (LAPES). The joint effort seeks to meet a requirement of 100 aircraft for the Russian Air Force, 45 aircraft to the IAF and 60 for export. Total requirement for the present is 205.

The MTA project preliminary design will start immediately after signing the follow-up contract on preliminary design on which tripartite discussions have been concluded.

^^^ You have to be $hitting me Cockpit lighting and a stowage panel for a cable.

I have a feeling a lot of the "Offsets" are going to be in the same vein as above. like Tata and Augusta Westland producing helicopter cabins like the seats and seat belts....and calling it "Defense production"....utter nonsense.