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

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 Sep 2014 19:43

What he figured out was how to use the equation of state for his application.
A very good account of how starting from fundamentals helps come to a swift solution.

I think what really helped was his thirst to study fundas and apply them. Many people who study fundas solve problems in their mind and when it comes to application it doesn't work.

The shot ground to dust as the armor was too tough and wouldn't allow it to penetrate. In effect the compression stress wave, due to the impact, in the shot broke it up!!!!

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 12 Sep 2014 21:35

Wow, this desi R&D tech could be among the best in the world. Superb article. Another one such an article was linked on BRF a while back that was an interview with Tejas team man who set up logistic supply over 30 years. This mahAshaya did a lot of good RnD as also production runs.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 12 Sep 2014 22:56

This also explains why the DMRL team was so happy with Kanchan and why the IA wanted it on all tanks it could be fitted, including Vijayanta. And its been upgraded further since then.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 12 Sep 2014 22:58

Hecky's follow on post.

hecky wrote:@DRDO Techfocus - August 2009

---------------------------

DRDO Technology Focus Archive: Link

partha · Post by **partha** » 13 Sep 2014 01:23

Karan M wrote:Fantastic writeup on the origins of Kanchan armor from the horses mouth, its creator.

http://www.inae.in/newsletter/artmar1.pdf

My Tryst with Indigenous Armour Development
Dr T. Balakrishna Bhat

Indeed. It is always good to read or hear people who have worked on the projects which get discussed so passionately on this forum. I didn't know such basic research went into development of Kanchan armor. There was another good blog post link (posted by shivji many moons ago in some other thread which I have saved) by Prof Prodyut Das who worked on Kaveri engine.

What do you guys think about a separate thread to collect articles, blog posts, interviews from/of people who have worked on Indian defence projects?

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 13 Sep 2014 01:43

Govt should buy Indian military hardware: Ex-Army chief

everyone is falling over each other?

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 Sep 2014 03:24

partha wrote: Indeed. It is always good to read or hear people who have worked on the projects which get discussed so passionately on this forum. I didn't know such basic research went into development of Kanchan armor. There was another good blog post link (posted by shivji many moons ago in some other thread which I have saved) by Prof Prodyut Das who worked on Kaveri engine.

IIRC Das never worked on Kaveri. He is ex HAL and dislikes ADA et al with a passion (he regards them as usurpers).

What do you guys think about a separate thread to collect articles, blog posts, interviews from/of people who have worked on Indian defence projects?

The aim of this thread was for the exact purpose - to catalog, track & document the work being done by these yeomen/women in the MIC - public or private. The hope was that folks who actually work in these orgs would also from time to time register and share some progress (non classified, public material).

Instead, every now & then, a bunch of folks who neither work for or contribute to any of these organizations come and engage in trolling based on whatever brainf@rt is going through them at the moment, "all these are morons", "XYZ is useless". These folks neither work for or help India in any manner viz defense, but are always ready to dump their brilliance on the contributions of others. And that is what is disruptive.

Its only balanced out by discussions like the one above on semiconductors.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 13 Sep 2014 10:58

Karan M wrote:Both have to go hand in hand, sequential stuff won't work in the Indian context.

From the organizational side:

You need to rapidly upscale infra, investments in defence R&D, give the govt firms more autonomy (DPSUs are infamous for being used as cushy parking spots for favored bureaucrats/politician joyrides), provide a level playing field for the private sector & also protect & nurture the SME/MSME sector which are the backbone of our MIC in many ways. The increased competition will also promote accountability & give more options.

From the coordination side:
Create either defence program clusters which are transparent, meet regularly and have accountability. Also, you need to have the services to commit to product development groups from their side, funding & also give firm commitments about product support & induction with firm orders & not use local programs as TDs for negotiating for imports.

This is probably the best option. Eventually, its going to be hard for the "autonomous" DPSU's to survive in such an environment. Companies like Kalyani Forge, Tata, etc. are just going to eat up all the market share eventually. That's not to say there won't be role for the public sector. Perhaps, it may be cheaper for the gov to just produce small caliber ammunition, boots, etc. but for anything more sophisticated, I don't really think they stand a chance in the long run. I can see DRDO turning into a DARPA. The last thing to go will probably be ASL and other agencies which work on strategic missile projects. Not much movement on this front from the private sector.

member_19648 · Post by **member_19648** » 13 Sep 2014 11:51

^^ Don't think any of the above will happen anytime soon though.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 13 Sep 2014 12:11

NRao wrote:Govt should buy Indian military hardware: Ex-Army chief

everyone is falling over each other?

Gen Shankar Roychowdhury was a great proponent of Indian hardware.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 Sep 2014 13:02

RoyG wrote:This is probably the best option. Eventually, its going to be hard for the "autonomous" DPSU's to survive in such an environment. Companies like Kalyani Forge, Tata, etc. are just going to eat up all the market share eventually. That's not to say there won't be role for the public sector. Perhaps, it may be cheaper for the gov to just produce small caliber ammunition, boots, etc. but for anything more sophisticated, I don't really think they stand a chance in the long run.

All nations continue to maintain critical Govt facilities to run their most critical classified work. Whether it be the US with Los Alamos or the US Navy maintaining its own facility to machine screws/run prop design for its subs.
In India, the DPSUs will continue to be tasked with many of the critical programs and will complement the private sector firms & compete with them. Strategic programs which require long lead time, but significant investment programs (which mean the private sector will be leery of investment as they cannot monetize fast) will continue to be run by the DPSUs. Companies like BEL, ECIL etc have huge infrastructure & at best, will be partly divested to bring in more autonomy to the board.

I can see DRDO turning into a DARPA. The last thing to go will probably be ASL and other agencies which work on strategic missile projects. Not much movement on this front from the private sector.

DRDO cannot be a DARPA because the Indian industry is nowhere near the US industry in terms of maturity and will take decades to make the transition. DRDO hence, cannot sit around and farm out programs and only focus on some bleeding edge stuff without a clear mandate on mission capable programs. In India, due to our lack of R&D & general lack of infra across the sector, DRDO, CSIR & Govt labs have to continue to do the heavy lifting in basic engineering - eg materials ( metallurgy, composites, plastics), chemicals (propellants, explosives), electronics (semiconductors, sensors) and applied engineering assistance (machinery, tooling). Without these, the private sector will go nowhere.
In an ideal world, DRDO would happily sit and do high level design, and merely farm out contracts to assorted firms for subsystems, and even designate an integrator for delivering, managing the lifecycle of the complete system. In India, there is no such thing. They have to handhold multiple organizations to develop each subsystem and component, from valves to computers and that is their mandate. This adds to cost & timelines but makes our systems relatively future proof. The other alternative is to import first & indigenize later as HAL has done with some programs, focusing only on the critical assemblies. That may speed up things in the short term, but leaves us vulnerable when systems fail or support is required over the long term.

Ranjani Brow · Post by **Ranjani Brow** » 13 Sep 2014 15:34

Armour Protection and Affordable Protection for Futuristic Combat Vehicles
V. Madhu, T. Balakrishna Bhat

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 Sep 2014 16:04

Hecky, interesting, those Arjun MK2 glacis plates could be passive arrays - and the future approach is clearly laid out:
Kanchan type composite armor as backstop + intelligent Dynamic Armor vs KE (think of Ukrainian Knife ERA but activated by sensors to "cut" KE projectiles in pieces), dynamic passive armor (as on the pics) vs HEAT + Active Protection System vs HEAT & KE.
This is real cutting edge stuff. APS I presume, they will work on w/Israel. There was already a reference from a CVRDE person on the APS.

Ranjani Brow · Post by **Ranjani Brow** » 13 Sep 2014 16:18

(posted by an Indian member on some other fora)

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 Sep 2014 16:26

Interesting! But that could be a steel backstop as well. There doesnt appear to be sufficient separation between the array and its base as on the DPA pic. ERA Mk-2 as mentioned above is basically equal in performance to Kontakt-V.

This pic seems to be ERA: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _front.JPG
Logically, if you can include ERA effective against both KE/HEAT why rely on DPA (vs HEAT) alone, unless weight is a concern.

Suresh S · Post by **Suresh S** » 13 Sep 2014 16:48

Karan,

thanks for posting the inspiring story of Dr Bhat. story says it all .With namo,s inauguration Hindustan ke train ne station chore dia hai ab isko devta bhe nahe rok sakte.
Jai Hind

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 13 Sep 2014 18:43

At what point in time will all this neat work be incorporated directly into a design? Are there plans for moving in such directions? (Asking).

An Arjun MK-3/4/5?

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 13 Sep 2014 19:54

It will not! unless we have structured delivery life-cycle production model. Mil forces must accept a min number of order upon freezing specifications, +/- 10% change tolerance to specs is fine.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 Sep 2014 20:02

NRao, thats the million $ question. If the IA seriously commits, there is no reason why we cannot have an Arjun MK3, MK4, Mk5 etc with these technologies. With the new Govt, there is no reason either why these tanks can't be built by the Mahindra's or Tata's either, while OFB focuses on the T-90s.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 13 Sep 2014 20:28

Karan M wrote:NRao, thats the million $ question. If the IA seriously commits, there is no reason why we cannot have an Arjun MK3, MK4, Mk5 etc with these technologies. With the new Govt, there is no reason either why these tanks can't be built by the Mahindra's or Tata's either, while OFB focuses on the T-90s.

Million Dollar Point - Army commitment to development of new tank. With clear goals and guidelines and involvement in project management from Day 01. I don't think it would be a insurmountable challenge to have a Arjun version with auto-loader and three man crew. If that is what IA wants. Give it time and clear commitment and money and I think we can deliver by 4-5 years time-frame.

Another +ve aspect which can aid in this development is that IA is not running out of time as was the case in 1999-2000 when T-90 was inducted. Enough T-90 would be in service along with few upgraded T-72 CIA and Arjun tanks. Let the Army Chief say that next tank in it's inventory will be a home-grown product. As it is, no earth shattering tech breakthrough has happened in Tank technology. DRDO can sure deliver on this. And as a measure of reassurance, allow a private firm to manufacture it.

Ranjani Brow · Post by **Ranjani Brow** » 13 Sep 2014 20:37

Twitter: @Saurav Jha

One direct competitor to HAL from the domestic pvt sector and one more tank/IFV factory besides Avadi are envisaged. Interesting times ahead

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 13 Sep 2014 20:37

The idea is not to build on (what is there) but to redesign, incorporating these new techs.

So, as an example (not that I want something exact), I would like to see the Arjun tank turret become more streamlined - like that (perhaps) of the Merkeva.

The way I see things is that the building blocks are nearly there (I am sure there is some ways to go), BUT, that should not prevent a total redesign of some of the features of things like the Arjun.

A need to import to fill current gaps is fine. But there needs to be a very clear path that sketches out how this import thinking will eventually merge into a local MIC. Import *has to have* a parallel track to build these little building blocks (engines of various sizes, gun barrels, turrets, what-not).

I mean it is ridiculous that such a large consumer imports from nations where their own needs are some 1/4 that of India's!! Go figure. India should be driving the future designs, research, etc and these smaller nations should be importing from India.

OK, enough.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 Sep 2014 21:51

Rohit, good points, instead of running around looking for some FMBT, get cracking and make a lighter Arjun variant with an autoloader. Use as much as possible from the existing design - eg. armor, FCS, transmission, suspension, tracks/roadwheels - perhaps put in a newer gun variant w/autoloader, newer compact engine, APS. Thats doable & better than starting off yet another search for a hovercraft cum tank cum death star which will again go through endless trials!!

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 13 Sep 2014 22:19

Karan M wrote:Rohit, good points, instead of running around looking for some FMBT, get cracking and make a lighter Arjun variant with an autoloader. Use as much as possible from the existing design - eg. armor, FCS, transmission, suspension, tracks/roadwheels - perhaps put in a newer gun variant w/autoloader, newer compact engine, APS. Thats doable & better than starting off yet another search for a hovercraft cum tank cum death star which will again go through endless trials!!

True.

They've shown this wisdom already when IA pushed for FICV segment to be opened to private players. That is the road ahead. IA always had QC issues with HVF - even the QC pass %age of T-90s was pretty low to begin with; don't know the situation now. So, let DRDO get cracking at FMBT derived from Arjun and nominate a private partner to manufacture it. Put your money where your mouth is. Tanks are going to remain viable in our environment for a long time. And IA loves tanks. And wants load of it.

As an aside, in spite of their best effort, they cannot push for replacement of T-72 on 1-1 basis with T-90. And T-72 upgrade is not going anywhere. I won't be surprised if we see more Arjun Mk2 induction to replace oldest lot of T-72 in service.

abhik · Post by **abhik** » 13 Sep 2014 22:34

hecky wrote:Twitter: @Saurav Jha

One direct competitor to HAL from the domestic pvt sector and one more tank/IFV factory besides Avadi are envisaged. Interesting times ahead

The BMP-2 are made by Ordnance Factory Medak, the tanks are made in Avadi.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 Sep 2014 22:41

rohitvats wrote:True.

They've shown this wisdom already when IA pushed for FICV segment to be opened to private players. That is the road ahead. IA always had QC issues with HVF - even the QC pass %age of T-90s was pretty low to begin with; don't know the situation now. So, let DRDO get cracking at FMBT derived from Arjun and nominate a private partner to manufacture it. Put your money where your mouth is. Tanks are going to remain viable in our environment for a long time. And IA loves tanks. And wants load of it.

As an aside, in spite of their best effort, they cannot push for replacement of T-72 on 1-1 basis with T-90. And T-72 upgrade is not going anywhere. I won't be surprised if we see more Arjun Mk2 induction to replace oldest lot of T-72 in service.

Many "larges" of Amrut Single malt for you my friend if the above comes true!!

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 Sep 2014 22:43

abhik wrote:
hecky wrote:Twitter: @Saurav Jha

One direct competitor to HAL from the domestic pvt sector and one more tank/IFV factory besides Avadi are envisaged. Interesting times ahead
The BMP-2 are made by Ordnance Factory Medak, the tanks are made in Avadi.

IA had also opened up the T-72 upgrade + overhaul to pvt sector - I wonder where that program went under the Saint? L&T was teaming up with Raytheon for the upgrade..

member_26622 · Post by **member_26622** » 14 Sep 2014 15:53

Auto-Loader is absolutely wrong way to go for following reasons (unless sane counter arguments are put forward)

1. Arjun with 3 man crew + Auto-loader will be heavier than 4 man crew Arjun. Same applies to any tank.
2. Auto-loader is a death trap, as 'exposed' ammunition will be smack in middle crew compartment -> ever wonder why Iraqi Tin cans tanks blew up spectacularly. Any penetration of crew compartment will mean instantaneous blow-up. I would not be surprised to find that Iraqi tank crews expeditiously walked away from their tin cans instead of putting up a fight.
3. Auto loader tech will be safe only if turret is unmanned >> That is a big design and operational change over current Gen tanks. Seen some developments on this front but not something which goes all the way ...

Basically, all current gen tanks with auto-loaders are unsafe as ammunition is not housed in compartments which blow outwards ( blowing the damn turret off). Unfortunately, this applies to all of our Russian sourced tin can fleet >> which we paid top $$$ and proudly keep driving around.

Why we continue to deny this 'in the face' fact is beyond comprehension. On one side we talk about valuing life aka 'supreme sacrifice' and then simply buy more death traps for our soldiers ?

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 14 Sep 2014 16:49

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 452470.cms

Rs 25,000 crore Navy tender only for private sector: Defence Ministry

NEW DELHI: Seeking to build capabilities of Indian private sector warship builders, the Defence Ministry has rejected the plea of a state-owned shipyard to participate in the Rs 25,000 crore project to construct four amphibious warfare vessels for the Indian Navy.

The Defence Ministry has decided that only private sector shipyards, including Pipavav, ABG and L and T, along with their foreign partners, would be allowed to take part in the Rs 25,000 crore project for building the four Landing Platform Docks, Navy sources told PTI here.

The Navy had issued tenders to these three private shipyards last year and decided to keep out Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), saying it was building the 40,000-tonne Indigenous Aircraft Carrier and it should focus on that major project only for the moment.

However, CSL approached former Defence Minister A K Antony through the Ministry of Shipping and the deal was put on hold to consider whether the tender should be retracted or CSL could also be issued the tender and a committee under an Additional Secretary was formed to look into the matter.

The committee report was presented before the last Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) of the UPA government in February but it was decided that it would be kept on hold.

The new government decided to continue the tender in its original form and CSL will now not take part in it, the sources said, adding that the government wants to strengthen the capabilities of the private sector defence industry.

In a similar case, the Defence Ministry had rejected the plea of public sector firms to take part in a Rs 15,000 crore tender to build 56 transport aircraft for the air force and allowed only private players to take part in it.

Soon after taking over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined his vision for the defence sector, saying that Indian industry, including both private and public sector, should build their capabilities for achieving self-reliance and also look towards exporting military hardware to friendly foreign countries.

The Defence Ministry has taken several steps in this direction such as scrapping of the 197 light helicopter tender under which the choppers would now be built by Indian companies only.

nash · Post by **nash** » 14 Sep 2014 17:42

^^^

this is getting better and better.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 14 Sep 2014 18:43

nik wrote:Auto-Loader is absolutely wrong way to go for following reasons (unless sane counter arguments are put forward)<SNIP>

How about taking a step back from the keyboard, take a deep breath and think calmly about what the other person wrote, try and figure out why of it and than passing such gyaan?

Ever heard of a tank called Leclerc? Made by our bosom buddies, the French?

Now, this tank comes with a 3-man crew and an auto-loader. Unlike the Russians, the French weren't trying to keep the size of their tank small. Compact relative to other western heavies maybe, but not like the Russians. Again, unlike the Russians, the tank comes with bustle mounted auto-loader where the ammunition is stored in a bustle towards rear of the turret.

So, the ammunition is stored in a horizontal position from where it is fed directly to the main gun. Another big advantage of this auto-loader compared to Russians is that tank can fire a UNITARY round. The desire to develop a compact design has its bearing on the auto-loader dimensions as well. And this places a limit on the length of the ammunition. Hence, Russian tank rounds are two-piece. They have the shot with secondary charge and main propellant charge. The auto-loader performs a two-step action to load the one full round into the main gun.

Two piece Russian tank ammunition: http://i.imgur.com/peaK7ON.jpg
Auto-loader in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NIaoOabF_0

Compared to this, the French tank uses a single piece or unitary round. The fact that ammunition is placed in bustle, allows for this luxury. Also, the rate of fire in this auto-loader is higher as compared to Russian one.

Schematic diagram - bustle mounted auto-loader: http://www.animeonscifi.co.uk/hosted/an ... mage66.gif
Auto-loader for Leclerc in action - see the large unitary rounds being loaded into the magazine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6nlvii-bP0

And the French tank uses the larger L55 main gun. The Korean K2 Panther also takes off after this design.

So, going forward, may be FMBT Arjun can sport this modification and have 3-man crew? That was the idea.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 14 Sep 2014 19:07

rohitvats wrote: Auto-loader in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NIaoOabF_0

Thats the T-72 Autoloader , The T-90 has a different arrangement which allows it to load the round and cartridge simultaneously in one single motion. The video of T-90 and other autoloader in action is in the video

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 14 Sep 2014 19:21

Austin wrote: Thats the T-72 Autoloader , The T-90 has a different arrangement which allows it to load the round and cartridge simultaneously in one single motion. The video of T-90 and other autoloader in action is in the video

This is going OT here but final post - Are you sure, Austin?

Because fofanov has a picture and explanation of this type of autoloader for T-64 and T-80U.

Check this:

Link to site:http://fofanov.armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/EQP/al-80.html

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 14 Sep 2014 20:00

Rohit you can see in the video for T-90 ( starts @ 0.44 ) it loads the round and cartidge in one go.

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 14 Sep 2014 20:15

rohitvats wrote:Let the Army Chief say that next tank in it's inventory will be a home-grown product.

This is the problem. It is not for the Army Chief to decide or state, it is for his political bosses to do that. Every armyman from the jawan to general would be more than pleased to have home-grown weapons but their purse strings are held by the MoD and eventually the PMO. If you are given Rs 500 to defend your home in a mohalla full of vicious goondas, will you buy a pencil and notebook to design a baseball bat or go to the nearest store and buy it? Now if the MoD told the Army "Look, your next tank must be homegrown. Tell me what you need for that to happen", we would have better luck. We have been doing it backwards so far and it's not because we don't know better. The problem is not the Army.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 14 Sep 2014 20:33

Austin wrote:Rohit you can see in the video for T-90 ( starts @ 0.44 ) it loads the round and cartidge in one go.

I saw the video and the section being labeled as T-90. But same video and similar videos appear under T-80 head on YouTube.

Check these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JV7jN925sY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzh2Ot2niY

member_22539 · Post by **member_22539** » 15 Sep 2014 07:28

Victor wrote:
rohitvats wrote:Let the Army Chief say that next tank in it's inventory will be a home-grown product.
This is the problem. It is not for the Army Chief to decide or state, it is for his political bosses to do that. Every armyman from the jawan to general would be more than pleased to have home-grown weapons but their purse strings are held by the MoD and eventually the PMO. If you are given Rs 500 to defend your home in a mohalla full of vicious goondas, will you buy a pencil and notebook to design a baseball bat or go to the nearest store and buy it? Now if the MoD told the Army "Look, your next tank must be homegrown. Tell me what you need for that to happen", we would have better luck. We have been doing it backwards so far and it's not because we don't know better. The problem is not the Army.

How farcical and facetious an argument you have there. Baseball bat indeed. Do our weapons come without ammunition or maintenance needs like a baseball bat? Does this foreign baseball bat come with gold plating? Does the pencil and notebook cost 100s of rupees? or does it cost a few rupees like it does in the real world? Or is the need for a baseball bat itself some fanboy lust for foreign sports equipment, while the job could easily be done by a iron rod cheaply made available?

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 15 Sep 2014 08:30

rohitvats wrote:
Austin wrote:Rohit you can see in the video for T-90 ( starts @ 0.44 ) it loads the round and cartidge in one go.
I saw the video and the section being labeled as T-90. But same video and similar videos appear under T-80 head on YouTube.

Check these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JV7jN925sY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzh2Ot2niY

Hi Rohit , I think you are right , I found another T-90 tank loading round and cartidge and the way it works can be seen in the video

http://youtu.be/7iEZmKB0XSM

Ranjani Brow · Post by **Ranjani Brow** » 15 Sep 2014 16:02

Breakthrough in indigenous E/O sensor tech

A heartening new indigenous development could take care of India's over-dependence on foreign suppliers for critical electro-optical sensors for surface payloads. The DRDO's Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE) in Dehradun has developed a Stabilised Electro Optical Sight (SEOS) with two-axis stabilisation and an integrated automatic video tracker facility. The indigenous SEOS has three electro-optical sensors, 3rd generation 3-5 µm (640 x 512 FPA) thermal imager (TI) with optical zoom, colour day TV with optical zoom camera and eye-safe laser range finder (ELRF). The day TV camera and TI sport a narrow field of view (NFOV) of 0.8° x 0.6° and wide field of view (WFOV) of 5° x 4° with additional 2 X electronic zoom in TI. These sensors provide a recognition range of 7 km for a NATO type of target. ELRF provides range of the target from 200 m to 9995 m with an accuracy of ± 5 m. According to DRDO, "The modular approach of this sight results into a quick customisation for different applications namely fire control solution for armoured fighting vehicles, surveillance from high speed boats and low altitude aerostat, and tracking system for a QR-SAM." The DRDO will be looking to integrate the new sight onto a slew of upcoming products.

SEOS has three electro-optical sensors:

1. Thermal imager (TI) -

3rd generation 3-5 µm (640 x 512 FPA)

Narrow field of view (NFOV) - 0.8° x 0.6°

Wide field of view (WFOV) - 5° x 4°

2 X electronic zoom

7 km for a NATO type of target

2. Colour day TV camera -

Narrow field of view (NFOV) - 0.8° x 0.6°

Wide field of view (WFOV) - 5° x 4°

7 km for a NATO type of target

3. Eye-Safe laser range finder (ELRF)

Range of the target - 200 m to 9995 m (± 5 m)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

This is the picture given in the article. Isn't this the improved/modified (by IRDE) COAPS from Elbit Systems for Arjun Mk II manufactured by an Indian firm VEM Technologies ?

abhik · Post by **abhik** » 15 Sep 2014 16:10

^^^
What is the origin of the sensors themselves?