India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

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csaurabh
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by csaurabh »

Vips wrote:HAL and MIDHANI sign MoU to develop composite raw materials.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for development and production of composite raw materials during the Aero India 2021 in Bengaluru on February 04, 2021. This is the first time that such an MoU has been signed for composite raw materials. The MoU was signed by Chairman and Managing Director, HAL Shri R Madhavan and Chairman and Managing Director, MIDHANI Dr S K Jha in the presence of other senior officials.

Mr R Madhavan said composites are one area where HAL will collaborate. Composites raw materials, mainly in the form of prepregs used in platforms like Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) are currently imported.

The CMD of MIDHANI Shri S K Jha said this is the major step forward in the area of composite materials. The HAL is not only taking care of frontline aircraft production but also raw materials. There is no equivalent proven Indian approved/qualified supplier for various types of prepregs (carbon, aramid, glass types, etc) for the aircraft applications. This creates a dependency on foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Aligned with "Atmanirbhar Bharat" initiative, efforts need to be made to develop and manufacture such prepregs in India through collaboration, he added.

The usage of composites in the aerospace is going to exist and increase, particularly for fighter aircraft/helicopter because of its inherent advantages over metallic raw materials. In addition, a similar requirement exists for other aerospace and defence programmes, including those of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL).
What is going on here..
Midhani has been saying for quite some time that they will be developing composite raw material in India. But no real efforts.
As for prepregs there are definitely suppliers/manufacturers in India. I have met them.
Problem is that there is no maker of the raw fibers - Carbon fibre, aramid, etc. Reliance Kemrock was supposed to be doing it but no word from them.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by jaysimha »

Chennai-based start-up to help develop AI-based unmanned ground vehicles for Army

The autonomous UGV can be used for logistics and surveillance at extreme weather and terrain conditions, said Vibhakar, one of the co-founders of the start-up Torus Robotic Pvt Ltd.


Image

https://www.newindianexpress.com/good-n ... 60114.html
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/strategic_front/sta ... 60836?s=20 ---> HSTL is a defence start up that won the iDEX challenge making them eligible for a grant of ₹1.5 crore. HSTL is making multi-spectral camouflage for snipers & paints that can reduce signature of tanks & other assets from the homing sensors of munitions.

HSTL Corporate Website ---> http://hyperstealth.in/

Image

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jaysimha
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by jaysimha »

ASTRA MICROWAVE PRODUCTS LTD. http://www.astramwp.com/?page=home
--> inverstors
-------> Astra Coneference CALL
----------------> Q3 FY21 Financial Results Conference Call Transcript (held on 12th FEB 2021 )

http://www.astramwp.com/admin/assets/up ... SCRIPT.pdf
jaysimha
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Post by jaysimha »

https://www1.nseindia.com/index_nse.htm
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
->company information
---> Corporate Announcements
------> View All
---------> Investor Presentation 16-Feb-2021 10:17
------------>https://www1.nseindia.com/corporate/HAL ... tation.pdf
jaysimha
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by jaysimha »

On similar lines...

Bharat Electronics
Press Release 09-Feb-2021 14:56

MoD and Bharat Electronics (BEL) sign contract for procurement of Software Defined Radio (Tactical) worth over Rs.1,000 crore

https://www1.nseindia.com/corporate/BEL ... 33_NSE.pdf
jaysimha
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by jaysimha »

Pioneering Defence Innovations in India
A Directory of India's leading MSMEs and start ups
https://idex.gov.in/node/70#Publications
Image
https://idex.gov.in/sites/default/files ... 281%29.pdf
-------------------------------------------------------------

Aero India Start Up Manthan
Event Highlights
5th February, 2021
0930 Hrs to 1200 Hrs IST
Chandan Singh Aerospace Convention Centre
(IAF Convention Centre), Bengaluru, Karnataka
Image
https://idex.gov.in/sites/default/files ... lights.pdf
ashishvikas
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by ashishvikas »

Big Announcements. ~Rs70Kcr for Def capital proc during 2021-22. Rs1Kcr for proc of startup products. New negative list in Mar. ~10 midsize projects for industry in Apr. LCH order shortly & LUH by Aug 2022
@SIDMIndia @phdchamber @ASSOCHAM4India @ficci_india @India_iDEX @VishForge

https://twitter.com/drajaykumar_ias/sta ... 66112?s=19

New negative list in Mar
LCH order shortly &
LUH by Aug 2022
Kakarat
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Kakarat »

https://twitter.com/DRDO_India/status/1 ... 5490426884
Indigenously designed & developed Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) by DRDO for Indian Navy has undergone two successful launches today. The missile is capable of neutralizing various aerial threats at close ranges.
Image
Prem Kumar
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Prem Kumar »

ashishvikas wrote:Big Announcements. ~Rs70Kcr for Def capital proc during 2021-22. Rs1Kcr for proc of startup products. New negative list in Mar. ~10 midsize projects for industry in Apr. LCH order shortly & LUH by Aug 2022
@SIDMIndia @phdchamber @ASSOCHAM4India @ficci_india @India_iDEX @VishForge

https://twitter.com/drajaykumar_ias/sta ... 66112?s=19
Great news - for the full text of RM's speech, click here https://www.rajnathsingh.in/speeches-in ... ha-mantri/
Indranil
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Indranil »

jaysimha wrote:https://www1.nseindia.com/index_nse.htm
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
->company information
---> Corporate Announcements
------> View All
---------> Investor Presentation 16-Feb-2021 10:17
------------>https://www1.nseindia.com/corporate/HAL ... tation.pdf
Jaysimha sir,

I wanted to thank you for quietly and relentlessly bringing these to us over the years. You are really a dark horse!
jaysimha
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Post by jaysimha »

Indranil wrote:
Jaysimha sir,

I wanted to thank you for quietly and relentlessly bringing these to us over the years. You are really a dark horse!
Thank you so much Sir. I am highly obliged by your kind words.

I benefited a lot from BRF ( much much before I started posting in here ) and it is my turn to pay back my dues by sharing all info I gather about indigenous defence Industry. I sincerely hope it will help one and all alike.

Thanks and regards
Jayasimha
jaysimha
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by jaysimha »

DRDO NEWS LETTER
March 2021 | volume 41 | issue 3
Drdo hands over licensing agreement of 14 technologies to 20 industries

Innovation
Successful Maiden Test Launch of Akash-NG Missile

TOT
DRDO and IISc signs MoU for Joint Advanced Technology Programme
MoD & BEL sign contract for procurement of SDR (Tactical) worth over Rs 1,000 cr

https://drdo.gov.in/sites/default/files ... ch2021.pdf
jaysimha
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by jaysimha »

https://www.bhel.com/
Latest Press Release
BHEL Committed to AatmaNirbhar Bharat –Awarded order for Main Guns of Frontline Ships by Indian Navy
New Delhi, February 11: In a major boost to Defence Production under the
‘Make in India’ initiative and to achieve self-reliance in the critical field of
Defence equipment, Indian Navy has placed an order on Bharat Heavy Electricals
Limited (BHEL) for supply of two numbers Super Rapid Gun Mounts (SRGM),
main guns standardised for all Warships of the Indian Navy.
https://www.bhel.com/sites/default/file ... 20Navy.pdf
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Vips »

DRDO hands over ToT to Godrej & Boyce for the production of Self Propelled Mechanical Mine Layer.

Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group announced that its business, Godrej Precision Engineering received the coveted Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology (LAToT) for the Mechanical Mine Layer, Self-Propelled (MML – SP) from the Ministry of Defence’s DRDO Laboratories at the ‘Bandhan’ ceremony at Aero India 2021.

The MML-SP has been designed for laying Anti-tank Bar Mines in varying soil conditions, camouflaging and recording their position accurately. It would play a crucial role in the defence and protection of India’s borders. Godrej Precision Engineering’s state of the art production facilities, stringent quality control and testing systems, coupled with decades of experience in building several ‘first-in-India’ products for defence applications will enable the quicker rollout and induction of this product.

Rajnath Singh in his address to the public said that Bandhan exemplifies the spirit of ‘public-private partnership’. He added that the fountainhead of any capability emerges from its foundation and the foundation of our vision rests on three pillars namely, research and development, public and private defence production and defence export. He mentioned that to encourage the manufacture of defence-related items in India, our endeavour will remain to bring down the defence imports by at least two billion dollars by 2022. He highlighted that the negative list of items for import is also meant to provide an opportunity for the domestic manufacturing sector to strengthen their base and contribute to Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Mayank Dwivedi, Scientist G and Director DIITM, DRDO HQrs added, “Godrej has been an important industry partner in various programs/projects of DRDO. DRDO values its contribution to various projects/programs. DRDO is confident that this LAToT will not only greatly strengthen the home-grown defence manufacturing capability of our country, but also will strengthen this partnership spanning a few decades.”

Kaustubh Shukla, Chief Operating Officer, Industrial Products Group, Godrej & Boyce, said, “We are proud to have partnered with the DRDO for more than three decades, and are deeply honoured by their confidence in us for manufacturing such a critical system. We have always considered it our foremost and sacred duty to contribute towards the defence of our Nation using our state-of-the-art technology coupled with our decades of expertise in this area. This LAToT for the Mechanical Mine Layer – Self Propelled will further strengthen our partnership with them, and we remain committed to achieving an Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

Over the years, Godrej & Boyce has successfully partnered with DRDO for various projects. Godrej Precision Engineering has successfully executed orders for defence land systems like Brahmos Missile Launchers, Missile carriers and Naval systems like Diving and Surfacing Mechanism, Hull Equipment, Life Raft Container Ejection Systems, Steering Gear and so forth.

Godrej Aerospace, another business of Godrej & Boyce works closely with DRDO for developing mission-critical systems. The business has the rare honour of having received the Defence Technology Absorption Award twice, first for developing Brahmos Airframes and the second time for Power Take-Off (PTO) shafts for LCA.

The association with DRDO is beyond just defence equipment. During the pandemic, Godrej developed and delivered Proportional Solenoid Valves -- a critical component for making ventilators
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Post by jaysimha »

MoD and BEL sign contract for procurement of Software Defined Radio (Tactical) worth over Rs 1,000 crore
Posted On: 08 FEB 2021 4:01PM by PIB Delhi

Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have signed a contract for procurement of Software Defined Radio Tactical (SDR-Tac) worth over Rs 1,000 crore in New Delhi on February 08, 2021.

The SDR-Tac, jointly designed and developed by Defence Electronics Applications Laboratory (DEAL) of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) through a consortium of domestic agencies and industry, comprising Weapons and Electronics Systems Engineering Establishment (WESEE), BEL, Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR) and Indian Navy will bring strategic depth to the Armed Forces. The delivery will take place within three years. The BEL is already supplying SDR-Naval Combat (NC) and SDR-Air is under user evaluation trial. The DRDO and BEL are planning to provide latest SDR with security grading to the Armed Forces.

The SDR-Tac is a four Channel Multi-mode, Multi Band, 19’’ Rack mountable, ship borne Software Defined Radio system. It is intended to serve ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore and ship-to-air voice and data communication for network centric operations. It supports simultaneous operation of all the four channels covering V/UHF and L Band. This SDR system houses multiple types of waveforms for narrow band and wide band applications. The MANET waveforms are available in UHF and L-Band to support adhoc networking feature for net centric operations. User evaluation trials covering exhaustive harbour phase and sea phase trials were completed successfully during May to June 2018 at Visakhapatnam for all waveforms including V/UHF and L-Band MANET waveforms under different network configurations.

Interoperability trials were also successfully carried out with all other form factors covering Airborne SDR-AR on board Dornier Aircraft, SDR-Tac on board INS Kirch in sailing mode, SDR-Manpack and SDR-Handheld. All the aspects were evaluated successfully by all user agencies of Navy and clearance was accorded for procurement.

The Armed forces are in need of transition from the single purpose radio of the past to more flexible Software Defined Radios (SDRs) to serve most of their wireless communication needs. These SDRs will be backward compatible with existing Indian radios. Different Service groups require different form factor radios for specific platforms and waveforms/applications. The SDRs allow use of common waveform/application implementation methods for different form factors. They also allow implementation of futuristic waveforms on the same hardware using software programmability, thus ensuring longer life and savings on cost.

A key factor in SDRs is that software programmability allows easy changes of the radio's fundamental characteristics such as modulation types, operating frequencies, bandwidths, multiple access schemes, source and channel coding/decoding methods, spreading/de-spreading techniques and encryption/decryption algorithms. Traditional hardware-centric radios require hardware changes to modify these fundamental characteristics. Multiple types of radio equipment can be replaced with multi-mode, multi band, multi-role SDR's of suitable form factors.

ABB/Nampi/DK/Savvy/ADA

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1696177

(Release ID: 1696177)
jaysimha
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Post by jaysimha »

DRDO @ Aero India 2021

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, DRDO in a first time initiative is providing QR based digital e-brochures for all of the DRDO exhibits at Aero India 2021

Instructions for downloading the QR based DRDO e-brochures
https://www.drdoaeroindia2021.com/pdf/Q ... uction.pdf
.
.
.
https://www.drdoaeroindia2021.com/pdf/D ... a%2021.pdf
https://www.drdoaeroindia2021.com/pdf/E ... Manual.pdf
https://www.drdoaeroindia2021.com/pdf/k ... ements.pdf
https://www.drdoaeroindia2021.com/pdf/at-a-glance.pdf
https://www.drdoaeroindia2021.com/pdf/a ... ochure.pdf
.
happy weekend :)
ramana
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by ramana »

Thank you for these.
jaysimha
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Post by jaysimha »

ramana wrote:Thank you for these.
welcome sir,, my pleasure,,,
srai
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Post by srai »

^^^

Good to have those in the Aero India 2021 thread
jaysimha
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Post by jaysimha »

Ministry of Defence
CONTRACT SIGNING WITH M/S SECON, VISAKHAPATNAM FOR ACQUISITION OF EIGHT MISSILE CUM AMMUNITION BARGE FOR INDIAN NAVY
Posted On: 24 FEB 2021 6:24PM by PIB Delhi
A contract for construction of Eight Missile Cum Ammunition Barges (MCA) has been concluded with M/s SECON, Visakhapatnam a MSME on 19 February 2021. Delivery of Barges is scheduled to commence from Jul 22. The Missile Cum Ammunition Barges will be inducted in Indian Navy to undertake the mission needs for embarking/ disembarking Missile, Gunnery and ASW Ammunition. The project adds another milestone to the Make in Indiainitiative of the Government of India.
Image
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePa ... ID=1700508
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Post by jaysimha »

Chennai Defence Expo: A Showcase For MSMEs With A Special Focus On Atmanirbharta

The event called ‘Defence Expo Empowering MSME 2021’ will take place at Chennai Trade Centre Complex, Nandambakkam.

NEW DATES 15 - 17 JUNE, 2021; VENUE: CHENNAI TRADE CENTRE, NANDAMBAKKAM, CHENNAI
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https://defenceexpotn.in/public/venue
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Post by jaysimha »

MoU between “BEL & Texmaco” at Aero India 2021, Bengaluru

Read more at:
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news ... bengaluru/
The scope of the MoU is to explore the opportunities under GOCO Model implementation, for overhaul of various Land Systems of Indian Army like Tank T-72 & BMP-2etc. (especially for Tank Electronics, Components, Electronic Warfare Systems etc.)
jaysimha
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Post by jaysimha »

12” National Conference and Exhibition on Aerospace & Defence Related Mechanisms
10-12 June 2021, Pune
https://www.drdo.gov.in/sites/default/f ... -Final.pdf
jaysimha
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Post by jaysimha »

Indian Company to Develop Affordable Multi-spectral Camera for UAVs
March 1, 2021

https://www.gim-international.com/conte ... a-for-uavs
Image
Paras Defence and Space Technologies Limited (Paras Aerospace) has extensive experience in optics and opto-mechanical assemblies, including in various projects of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Vips »

DRDO developing DURGA II laser weapon for land, naval, air use?

The work of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has often been commended, or criticised, with reference to a handful of notable projects.

These are usually the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, the Arjun tank and missiles like the Agni series. Less well-known has been the DRDO's work on cutting-edge technologies and weapons, which are yet to enter widespread operational service worldwide.

One such area is the field of 'directed-energy weapons' (DEW). In layman's parlance, a directed-energy weapon damages or destroys its target using focussed energy by means of lasers, microwaves or particle beams.

According to the US think tank, Lexington Institute, "Directed-energy weapons have several advantages over conventional munitions. First, they transmit lethal force at the speed of light (about 300,000 kilometers per second). Second, their beams are not affected by the constraining effects of gravity or atmospheric drag. Third, they are extremely precise. Fourth, their effects can be tailored by varying the type and intensity of energy delivered against targets."

Directed-energy weapons are already in service in the role of 'drone defence' systems. In such systems, laser beams are used to knock out parts of drones, which are becoming an integral part of the military arsenal of most nations. However, their potential extends far beyond to being able to both destroy enemy targets and defend vital infrastructure from air and missile attack.

Earlier this week, US defence website Defense News reviewed the status of hypersonic weapons and DEW programmes worldwide. Defense News reported the DRDO has sought $100 million from the ministry of defence to develop a high-power laser weapon.

"The classified project, dubbed DURGA II (Directionally Unrestricted Ray-Gun Array), will see the Indian Army receive the 100-kilowatt, lightweight directed-energy system, a service official told Defense News. A senior DRDO scientist said on condition of anonymity that the DURGA II program is currently in the concept stage. He added that the organization is developing and improving various laser-generation techniques using solid state, fiber and chemical lasers for defensive and offensive use.

The scientist also said DURGA II is to be integrated with land-, sea- and air-based platforms," Defense News reported.

The Defense News report noted the Laser Science and Technology Centre at Delhi was the lead laboratory in developing laser weapons. "The center has so far made a 25-kilowatt laser that can target a ballistic missile during its terminal phase at a maximum distance of 5 kilometers," Defense News reported.

Interestingly, the existence of a DURGA project has been reported for around two decades now, dating back to the early 2000s. A study by Indian Air Force officer K.K. Nair published by the United Service Institution of India (USI) in 2008 referred to the Directionally Unrestricted Ray-Gun Array (DURGA), and noted there was little progress in the project.

In 2017, DRDO tested a 1KW laser weapon mounted on a truck at a test facility in Chitradurga. The Economic Times reported the laser hit a target 250m away. The laser test was conducted in the presence of then defence minister Arun Jaitley.

Tough to develop

High-power laser weapons are difficult to develop, a notable problem being provision of adequate power to the system. The Economic Times highlighted challenges including “developing a cooling mechanism for the system that heats up when the laser beam is fired, ensuring a focused beam towards a distant target and optoelectronics, or optronics, involving lenses to create that focus..."
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by csaurabh »

I would be more happy if they develop some standard lasers for the commercial industry instead of these sci-fi nonsense which may or may not be useful! Right now commercial lasers (and their accessories) are being imported lock stock and barrel from China and other nations. It is quite embarrassing.
That leads me to wonder how indigenous these so called laser systems are. I wouldn't be surprised if it is just an imported system under another name.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Prem Kumar »

I will believe Durga-2 when I see it. We had a KALI episode that ran for 2 decades with nothing to show for it.

But DRDO seems to be getting its act together (at least a handful of their labs) - so, if the DEW effort is handled by the right lab, project manager, we will see some result. Happy to see that there is focus on this tech - DEW weapons are question of when and not if.

At any rate, this involves new-tech-development - so we should expect to wait till a deployable system is demonstrated

csaurabh: it may be the other way around. If DRDO spends its $100M to develop defence DEW tech, its easier to TOT to industry and let them commercialize it. Its a time-tested model.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by arvin »

Vips wrote:DRDO developing DURGA II laser weapon for land, naval, air use?

The Defense News report noted the Laser Science and Technology Centre at Delhi was the lead laboratory in developing laser weapons. "The center has so far made a 25-kilowatt laser that can target a ballistic missile during its terminal phase at a maximum distance of 5 kilometers," Defense News reported.
The only public display of a laser based weapon was on last year's independence day where an anti drone system based on laser and jamming was deployed. The system could detect drones up to 3 kilometres and use laser to bring down a target up to 1-2.5 kilometres as per online reports.

But the lab mentioned above, LSTC has not been functional as independant entity since nov 2020 and its staff moved to other DRDO labs.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/natio ... res-177986
Two laboratories in Delhi, the Defence Terrain Research Laboratory (DTRL) and the Laser Science and Technology Center (LASTEC) and one in Hyderabad, Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group (ANURAG) are now no longer functional as independent entities.
DURGA and KALI has been mentioned for so long people are bound to take it with skepticism.
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Post by Karan M »

Prem Kumar wrote:I will believe Durga-2 when I see it. We had a KALI episode that ran for 2 decades with nothing to show for it.

But DRDO seems to be getting its act together (at least a handful of their labs) - so, if the DEW effort is handled by the right lab, project manager, we will see some result. Happy to see that there is focus on this tech - DEW weapons are question of when and not if.

At any rate, this involves new-tech-development - so we should expect to wait till a deployable system is demonstrated

csaurabh: it may be the other way around. If DRDO spends its $100M to develop defence DEW tech, its easier to TOT to industry and let them commercialize it. Its a time-tested model.
Where is the evidence beyond BR/Internet forums that there was any DEW called Kali? There was a research article at BARC, another system used for EMI/EMC testing/hardening. When did these become DEWs?
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by mody »

For DEW the fact that holds out hope is that upto now most efforts including the Star Wars programs of the US in the 80's was geared towards knocking out large high value targets like long range ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads etc.
The current efforts are now more geared towards taking on asymmetric weapons like cheap drones. Drones would require much lower power to damage them and also the DEW would have to be used for a much lesser time for each target, given the speed and the size of the target. Also, the range required for targeting drones would be less than 20 Kms, as opposed to hundred of Kms for ballistic missiles and the like.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by kit »

mody wrote:For DEW the fact that holds out hope is that upto now most efforts including the Star Wars programs of the US in the 80's was geared towards knocking out large high value targets like long range ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads etc.
The current efforts are now more geared towards taking on asymmetric weapons like cheap drones. Drones would require much lower power to damage them and also the DEW would have to be used for a much lesser time for each target, given the speed and the size of the target. Also, the range required for targeting drones would be less than 20 Kms, as opposed to hundred of Kms for ballistic missiles and the like.
The Chinese are already deploying high power lasers to blind/incapacitate enemy satellites as they see fit. This is a useful "surgical" capability in times of war .( not to mention less space debris created by a kinetic weapon)
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Karan M »

csaurabh wrote:I would be more happy if they develop some standard lasers for the commercial industry instead of these sci-fi nonsense which may or may not be useful! Right now commercial lasers (and their accessories) are being imported lock stock and barrel from China and other nations. It is quite embarrassing.
That leads me to wonder how indigenous these so called laser systems are. I wouldn't be surprised if it is just an imported system under another name.
There is a ton of material in how useful lasers are in the aerospace threat domain. The point about making these systems locally even with imported components is to get experience and gradually indigenize. Constant complaining is of no use.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by nachiket »

csaurabh wrote:I would be more happy if they develop some standard lasers for the commercial industry instead of these sci-fi nonsense which may or may not be useful!
DRDO's mandate is to develop technologies for defence applications, so that is what they will do. If those technologies have secondary commercial applications so be it (and there have been instances of this in the past) but that will and should not be DRDO's primary focus.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Prasad »

That is ideally what RRCAT should be doing but..
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by nachiket »

csaurabh's angst is better directed towards the private sector where our companies in their wisdom have never given serious R&D any thought whatsoever leading to the situation he describes.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by csaurabh »

Prem Kumar wrote: csaurabh: it may be the other way around. If DRDO spends its $100M to develop defence DEW tech, its easier to TOT to industry and let them commercialize it. Its a time-tested model.
Well, LASTEC and other DRDO labs have no successful model of transferring any type of laser design or manufacturing to any private industry despite existing for over 50 yrs. So no, it is not a time tested model ( rather a time tested failure! ). There is no record of any type laser manufacturing being done in the country currently. Trust me we have looked.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Karan M »

Again more complaints and rhetoric.Where was the funding for them to develop any DEWs? Did anyone provide them any sort of funding to do so? Was it their mandate to develop commercial lasers or, rather, the niche items such as LGB relevant items, test kit and designators that were not available via import?

LASTEC has developed a variety of designation and test equipment for the AF, which are exactly within its mandate. It and CHESS, within their mandate are also involved in developing anti-drone systems, several of which have been developed and demonstrated. LASTEC has been rolled up btw and will exist as part of CHESS. Its only now that they are getting some attention for developing proper offensive systems.

If there is an adequate budget, a pressing requirement on priority as communicated by services, then they can develop these technologies and transfer them to industry!

Here when it is finally being done, you are coming up with a litany of complaints that is of no use, without even looking at the fact that finally steps are being undertaken in this arena. First let the funding be provided. $100 Mn is peanuts by international standards, but in the Indian context it is still something, and if it leads to gradual indigenization of key components or at least us mastering several high-value add elements, its worth it.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Karan M »

nachiket wrote:csaurabh's angst is better directed towards the private sector where our companies in their wisdom have never given serious R&D any thought whatsoever leading to the situation he describes.
Most people don't seem to understand how limited DRDO's budget is and how much they have done with the scarce funds available. During the recent CV episode (still ongoing), it was DRDO which stepped up for medical PPE kits to ventilators along with BEL. All the Venus N95/N99 masks being used country wide came from them. PPE kits were fixed because NSTL gave their submarine sealant tech to bypass PRC's ban on seam sealing kit and tapes.

All this is out of a budget which has to cater for the entire missile program, submarines to fighters to tanks, and artillery plus software for the 3 services and the critical C3I which is a different thing altogether. Where do they have the money to setup the infrastructure for every other thing from lasers to medical electronics to this to that.

Their ask for a FPA foundry is still hanging fire. IISc is yet to get money for a parallel GaN foundry. We dont even have a foundry for commercial processors etc beyond the capability at SITAR. The ventilator design that came from the private sector floundered, whereas the DRDO design that went to a pvt firm was taken up, re-engineered with new components and sensors that DRDO developed to bypass the import limitations, and rushed into production at BEL, successfully. How much is one org supposed to do? We have CSIR theoretically which should be leading all the industry relevant applications. DRDO should be able to leverage from them, but the CSIRs contribution to overall S&T progress and commercialization also needs to be ramped up. Though CSIR-CGSRI has done some work in developing low power fiber lasers for commercial purposes (100W/30W/20W). We as a country aren't spending enough on R&D and the private sector, less said the better.
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Re: India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

Does this count as a private sector manufacturer of industrial lasers? Or do words like 'solution provider' and 'manufacturer and supplier' indicate that they are engineers and installers( though no doubt good ones).


https://www.sltl.com/
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