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

Post by Rakesh »

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DRDOs new test range at Chitradurga

Post by sunilUpa »

DRDOs new test range at Chitradurga
Indias first facility to create and test futuristic unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for the military will come up at Chitradurga, within the next five years, at a cost of approximately Rs 850 crore.


The dedicated facility will produce and fly small UAV, micro-UAV, flapping wing UAV and the long range UAV – the ultimate dream of many defence scientists. The DRDO has received clearances from the state and Central governments for its project, scheduled to be completed during the 11th plan. Karnataka has offered 3,000 acres of barren land in Hiriyur and Challakere taluka in Chitradurga for the test range.

The Chitradurga range is likely to be involved with the development of the first medium altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, (MALE), scheduled to undergo its flight test in 2009, though sources hinted at a possible delay. DRDO so far has developed two unmanned aerial platforms – Nishant and Lakshya - both entering the production phase.

While Nishant can fly continuously for four to six hours, day or night, photographing enemy territory, Lakshya is an aerial target meant for gun and missile shooting. The organisation is now working on Lakshya-2. A DRDO official said that the longer range version of the UAV could fly up to 300-900 km at a speed between 0.4 to 0.7 Mach. In comparison, Nishant’s maximum range is 160 km.

Though research and development of individual components for the UAV are expected to take place in defence laboratories including Bangalore’s Aeronautical Development Establishment as well as centres in Pune and Dehradun, the final assembling and testing may happen in Chitradurga. Chitradurga’s proximity to Bangalore was one of the determining factors in favour of the site as ADE scientists are required to visit the spot regularly.
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Post by JaiS »

Rakman,

Requesting the previous thread to be archived, like the one prior to that, in the Mil Tech Archive.
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Post by Rakesh »

JaiS: Done. Thanks.
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Re: DRDOs new test range at Chitradurga

Post by JCage »

sunilUpa wrote:DRDOs new test range at Chitradurga
Indias first facility to create and test futuristic unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for the military will come up at Chitradurga, within the next five years, at a cost of approximately Rs 850 crore.


The dedicated facility will produce and fly small UAV, micro-UAV, flapping wing UAV and the long range UAV – the ultimate dream of many defence scientists. The DRDO has received clearances from the state and Central governments for its project, scheduled to be completed during the 11th plan. Karnataka has offered 3,000 acres of barren land in Hiriyur and Challakere taluka in Chitradurga for the test range.

The Chitradurga range is likely to be involved with the development of the first medium altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, (MALE), scheduled to undergo its flight test in 2009, though sources hinted at a possible delay. DRDO so far has developed two unmanned aerial platforms – Nishant and Lakshya - both entering the production phase.

While Nishant can fly continuously for four to six hours, day or night, photographing enemy territory, Lakshya is an aerial target meant for gun and missile shooting. The organisation is now working on Lakshya-2. A DRDO official said that the longer range version of the UAV could fly up to 300-900 km at a speed between 0.4 to 0.7 Mach. In comparison, Nishant’s maximum range is 160 km.

Though research and development of individual components for the UAV are expected to take place in defence laboratories including Bangalore’s Aeronautical Development Establishment as well as centres in Pune and Dehradun, the final assembling and testing may happen in Chitradurga. Chitradurga’s proximity to Bangalore was one of the determining factors in favour of the site as ADE scientists are required to visit the spot regularly.
I had once pointed out in a discussion with vina, that DRDO and its partners will develop a slew of local products once the Mk1 was ready and accepted and that both public and private partners for DRDO were well placed to carry this out. ECIL for instance is doing everything from actuators to complete fire control posts. And so is Tata SED etc.

As we can see, its begun. Whether it be Radars or Missiles and now UAVs etc, follow on products are being developed. There is a project for even a Nishant follow on, lets see when it comes out.
'
Many of these complete systems were designed with growth potential and future requirements in mind. Interestingly, as part of the Nishant project, DRDO developed an all new Ground station which is well suited for the follow on projects.

According to DRDO, w/ local system integrators stepping up, even reliance on external ie BARCO displays for large scale imagery will no longer be an issue.
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Post by bala »

Oh boy here we go again, full bashing of DRDO once again..

Bharat Verma

How DRDO failed India's military

No point reacting to this nonsense the DDM thread has already addressed this trash.
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Post by Raj Malhotra »

I think GoI has failed DRDO by allocating it such small budgets. Compare the budget of Nano Car with IGMDP, and it will make some sense
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Post by vina »

bala wrote:Oh boy here we go again, full bashing of DRDO once again..

Bharat Verma

How DRDO failed India's military

No point reacting to this nonsense the DDM thread has already addressed this trash.
Well.. Let me put it this way. This article raises a lot of the stuff we have been talking about in BRF .. The 100% indigenization fetish, the ideology driven "public sector" onlee kind of nonsense, the archaic bureaucracy, the ills of it being a "sarkari" thing.. no ownership of product by end users.. ,poor program management, lack of concurrent engineering, no alignment of system of rewards/punishment with success/failure, the list is endless.

Beating up DRDO is the easy part. The larger part is to realize that there is a huge structural failure. The Soviet /Command economy inspired, but mixed economy muddle is a large part. There is no reward/punishment system, zero accountability, the armed forces have no product /program management experience, the "Prussian officer like" "No Objection Certificate" wielding Babudom is the excuse we have for program management.. the babu monkeys in the MoD cannot find their asses with their own two hands , problems are many fold.. all the way down to the lal jhanda wielding commie -union workers at the shop floor.

We need a clean break from this rubbish and we need to organize along modern corporate lines with modern practices. The armed forces have to have control over their R&D budgets and need to take responsibility for outcomes and how it is spent. They cannot be allowed to just have the nose in the air nah.. nah.. attitude.

Of course the Bharat Vermas and the others of their ilk like Shiv Aroor dare not take on the armed forces and the MoD monkeys and the public sector /OFB "production agencies".. because they have the power to control "access" and dole out "patronage" , while DRDO has its hands tied in terms of what it can do.. They are the soft boys and the easy target , so everyone has a go at them.

Not that the DRDO is as pure as the driven snow and that their record has been impeccable.. But given the constraints in terms of resources, managerial freedom, salaries, funding and all else, and most importantly the "NOC " wielding "Prussian Officer Class" , what they have achieved thus far is all that they could have done at best and that too is remarkable.

Actually there are reforms happening at the ground level in "stealth mode" .. The recent DRDO 2008 document says it all very clearly that there has been serious rething /stock take within and a clear analysis of what happened and why (maybe they too read BRF ?) and statements are emerging on giving up the 100% indigenization fetish ..(statement on part of the global ecosystem) , increased competition (atleast doable at the sub system level), increased partnership with end user (statement on Armed Forces partnership) and finally adopting modern product design and management practices and fully embracing the private sector.

The next 10 years should be very different from the previous 10 years. I think DRDO finally realizes that focus is all important and that "less is more"
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Post by Singha »

a lot many doors have also opened for India due to strategic new alignments, economic growth and "concerns" about India's neighbours like PRC.
its upto India to take advantage of this and feed on the technology flows.
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Post by tsarkar »

There was a day at sea and I took some pictures that are hosted at http://media.bharat-rakshak.com/aero/Misc/

Among the ships participating included LRDE Revati 3D CAR trials ship INS Dunagiri.

Thanks to Jagan for uploading them.
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Post by Vick »

Thanks tsarkar, especially for the Revathi pic. In that pic, the bowtie looking antennae on the mast, are they for the Ellora?
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Post by Rudranathh »

Defence technologies: Challenges before the DRDO
By Kalyan Ray

A meagre budget and shortfall in manpower have prompted the adoption of new approaches.

A plane that can fly six times faster than sound; an underwater vehicle that negotiates complicated trenches and ridges without human assistance; an electronic bomb that clogs a hostile nation’s entire electronics within minutes.

Sounds futuristic! Ideas lifted straight from science fiction titles! These are some of the cutting edge technologies, which the defence research and development agencies want to develop in the next decade.

But challenges are daunting. First, the budget is too meagre to carry out high-end strategic research. Officially, the DRDO got more than Rs 5,000 crore in the last two budgets. But only one third of the money was available for research.

However, the DRDO is expected to develop missiles, fighter planes, indigenous jet engines, battle tanks and nuclear-powered submarines, etc. Remember, India did not even design and develop a car of its own till Indica.

The rest of the fund, explains DRDO chief M Natarajan, is utilised to make deliverables like Agni and Prithvi missiles — besides running a mammoth organisation with 50 odd laboratories and 7,000 scientists.

India’s defence R&D budget has increased from Rs 3,173 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 5,314 crore in 2005-06. But it is to be noted that the USA spends 16 per cent of its defence budget — $420 billion — on strategic research, whereas 20 per cent of China’s defence expenditure, $ 29 billion, was utilised on research. Even Israel spends 9-11 per cent of its defence budget on R&D.

Shortage of manpower is another crippling factor. When the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) project began on the drawing board, the team had more than 120 scientists looking after different aspects. However, when the plane was finally ready to fly, less than 25 scientists were there. Thanks to the boom in the information technology industry that required trained engineers and scientists.

Another straining factor was the US-imposed sanctions in the aftermath of the 1998 nuclear test. “Unlike others, we just can not go to the technology market and purchase technologies and components,â€
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Post by tsarkar »

Vick,

They are rf dipoles used for communications.

Ellora is used in conjunction with Ajanta and is only in the newer ships.

Dunagiri is over 30 years and at the fag end of her career. Her machinery is in a good shape, so used for trials. The three older Leanders have been decommissioned and the last two are used for training and patrol. All would be decommissioned by 2010
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Post by Rudranathh »

Please put this news in BR news on first page of website.

Missiles under IGMDP have been successfully developed
Jan 18, 2008

By Praful Kumar Singh

New Delhi, Jan 18 (ANI): Countering some negative media reports on his press conference on January 8, Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) Chief Controller (R and D), Dr. Prahlada, today said the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) would come to a successful conclusion in December this year with the final testing of the Nag anti-tank missile.

The IGMDP was begun on July 22, 1983, with plans for the Agni, Prithvi, Trishul, Akash and Nag missiles. Initiated by DRDO scientists Anand Parthasarthy and A P J Abdul Kalam.

"All these missiles have since been developed and are entering service in one form or another. With this, objectives of the IGMDP originally envisaged stand completed," Dr. Prahlada, who is also the chairman of the IGMDP board, told ANI in an exclusive interview.

"Strategic Missile Program is entirely indigenous and is being pursued through a number of separate projects. All of them are progressing as per schedule and no strategic system has been scrapped," he added.

The successful completion of the IGMDP does not mean that all work on the five missile projects is stopped immediately, he said.

Asked if the IGMDP was going to be replaced by another programme, he said missile-manufacturing capacities have to be expanded and further research and development in this area would be carried on a project-by-project basis.

He said two possible models were the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile that is a joint venture between India and Russia run on commercial lines, and the Astra, a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile for which the DRDO is tying up with institutions in at least four countries.

Commenting on reports that the government has scrapped the project, Dr. Prahlada said: "One must understand the background of the IGMDP. It was started at a time when there was no help forthcoming from anywhere. That situation is not there now."

Dr. Prahlada said there were organisations from as many as 14 countries that were now willing to collaborate with the DRDO in developing missiles. Among these were the US, Israel, Germany, France and Russia, he added.

Dr. Prahlada said that the Indian media should avoid sensational stories, and added that if everyone thinks of himself or herself, who is going to look after the national interest. (ANI)
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Post by JCage »

Link
DRDOs role vital in providing strategic defence to India
January 19th, 2008 - 8:07 pm ICT by admin - Email This Post

By Praful Kumar Singh

New Delhi, Jan 19 (ANI): The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), which started with a mission to advise the armed forces, has today became the main provider of strategic defence technologies and state-of-the-art Tactical Weapons Systems in the country.

In an exclusive interview with the Asian News International (ANI), the DRDOs Chief Controller (R and D), Dr. Prahlada, said that no nation is willing to part with their strategic defence technologies, and India had to learn them from scratch.

He said that the DRDO has been able to do it, and added that the organisation has played a vital role in providing strategic defence to India.

Dr. Prahlada further went on to say that the DRDO has been able to evolve an indigenous missile defence shield comparable to the best elsewhere in the world. In this context, he said that the US offer of American Patriot Advanced (PAC III) capability would not affect our own programme of having an indigenous missile defence shield which would be ready by 2010-12.

It is far better to have indigenous weapons systems instead of importing them from abroad because it will keep money within the country, said Dr. Prahlada, who is also the chairman of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) board.

It will also encourage the domestic industries to improve their infrastructure and give a boost to the economy, he added.

Dr. Prahlada described the Akash as the first indigenous surface-to-air missile having a milestone technology that the country has developed.

He said that the criticism of Akash was not based on facts. Akash, as a guided missile, has performed with accuracy and consistency without failure during field trials. It has also achieved targeted kill in January 2006 and December 2007.

Commenting on the delay in the completion of the Akash project, which was to be completed in 12-13 years by 1995, Dr Prahlada said: One must understand the background of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme It was started at a time when there was no help forthcoming from anywhere. That situation is not there now.

He accepted that Akash or other strategic defence systems have been delayed because the DRDO lost crucial manpower due to the economic boom in the 1990s. Scientific innovations have more uncertainties than building of a bridge, he added.

In the 1980s, our industrys maturity level was weak and at the same time one has to understand that no country is willing to part with their strategic weapons systems, Dr. Prahlada said.

Even the Patriot missile of the US or Barak missile of Israel have also taken more than 20 years to become operational, he claimed.

We now are not dependent on foreign collaborations in the production of missiles. Our own industries — over 45 of them are able to provide the components, Dr. Prahlada said.

He said that speed of our projects has been affected by denial regimes, but finally due to the hard work of our scientists and people involved in them, we have been able to develop them.

At present traditional mindset is changing and many countries are ready to work with India in the field of defence production. They were not ready to work as partners in 1980s or early 1990s, he said.

Asked about reality check and course correction of DRDO projects, Dr, Prahlada said every project has a review mechanism and two years ago we did the review.

We tried to rectify the systematic problems, but technical hurdles take time and require continuous development, he added.

Talking about weapons systems, which the DRDO will provide to the services in next five years, Dr. Prahlada said that Astra (air-to-air missile) and Air Defence System are ready.

New sonars, heavyweight torpedo, improved Nishant and Lakshya, Radars for all the three services, ground borne and air borne surveillance radar, remotely operated underwater vehicle and Aerosat would be ready in next five years, he said.

Dr. Prahlada added that lot of new generation electronic warfare systems — airborne, ship-borne and helicopter borne — will be ready soon.


Countering some negative media reports on his press conference on January 8, Dr. Prahlada on Friday said that the Integrated Guided Missile Development programme would come to a successful conclusion in December this year with the final testing of the Nag anti-tank missile.

The IGMDP was started with plans for the Agni, Prithvi, Trishul, Akash and Nag missiles on July 22, 1983 by DRDO scientists Anand Parthasarthy and A P J Abdul Kalam. Each programme under the IGMDP was supposed to have been completed by December 1995.

All these missiles have since been developed and are entering service in one form or another. With this, objectives of the IGMDP as originally envisaged stands completed, said Dr. Prahlada.

The successful completion of the IGMDP does not mean that all work on the five missile projects is stopped immediately, he said. (ANI)
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Post by JCage »

Dr. Prahlada said that the Indian media should avoid sensational stories, and added that if everyone thinks of himself or herself, who is going to look after the national interest. (ANI)

Are the lifafa artists like Shiv Aroor, Pandit et al listening?
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Post by bala »

Aerospace, aeronautics technologies are converging: Kalam
Kalam said this convergence should lead to the Indian engineers developing systems like 150 seater passenger jet, supersonic unmanned combat aircraft, hypersonic reusable missile, Hyper-plane and planetary missions, including manned missions.

Technologies in the field of aeronautics,space and missile are converging and this will lead to a cost effective high quality design, development and production of various types of aerospace systems, former President APJ Abdul Kalam said here today.

Delivering the 'Air Chief Marshal L M Katre memorial lecture' at HAL here, he said this convergence should lead to the Indian engineers developing systems like 150 seater passenger jet, supersonic unmanned combat aircraft, hypersonic reusable missile, Hyper-plane and planetary missions, including manned missions for energy and water.

India should come out with its own 15-seater passenger jet to cater to the exploding demand of the aviation sector, which had a present estimated demand of 35 such aircraft.

''The country has vast infrastructure and human aerospace sector. We have three lakh engineers and Rs 40,000 crore invested in this space. India can definitely launch such missions with international partnership,'' he said.

The former President said it was time a National Aeronautics Commission was constituted with a given mandate to design, develop and send the 150-seater passenger plane soaring into the Indian skies. ''When the Indian combat aircraft goes into squadron service and 150-seater aircraft flies in the sky, Air Chief Marshal Katre will definitely 'smile,''' he added.

The Air Chief Marshal, who died during service in 1985 was the former chairman of HAL and a distinguished officer of the Indian Air Force.

Lauding the efforts of the HAL, Mr Kalam said the Advanced Light Helicopter produced by the public sector aviation major would emerge as the workhorse of the Indian aviation in the coming years.

Sukhoi-30 MKI's avionics and MiG series of aircraft upgradation had demonstrated nation's capabilities to design advanced aircraft systems.

The all-round capability of the HAL in design and development of airborne systems was an adequate foundation to develop our own 150-seater plane, the 'Missile-Man' said.

Mr Kalam said the country should draft a National Aeronautics Policy for integrating the strengths of both civil and military aviation sectors to bring synergy in the sector.

Speaking on emerging technologies, he said hypersonic reusable missile was an emerging area to achieve greater speed using Ramjet and Scramjet engine. This type of missions would be highly useful for multiple applications like larger payload fraction.

At present, two to three per cent of take off weight as a payload in low earth orbit had been achieved world over. However, India's Hyper plane aims to realise 15 per cent of payload fraction which can considerably reduce the launch cost, he said.

Beyond the year 2020, the aerospace world would enter into space industry. Space tourism, mining in planets and space habitats.

Hypersonic reusable vehicles would offer cost effective transportation for space missions, the former president said.

Answering questions from audience, Mr Kalam said in the wake of the country facing problems in getting nuclear fuel for power sector, it was high time that it developed the technology to build reactors to process thorium to be used as fuel.

''The nuclear fuel has remained a difficult thing to negotiate and we should look for something else. We have thorium in abundance and it is time we move to build reactors to process thorium as an alternative to uranium and plutonium,'' he said.
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The infantry soldier of tomorrow

Post by sunilUpa »

The infantry soldier of tomorrow

[quote]Pilloried again and again over the past few years for its dismal performance as the lead technology provider for national defence, India’s Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) seems determined to showcase its prowess through its demonstration of newer systems for the armed forces. In May 2006, in the eleventh report on the demand for grants (2006-07), the ministry of defence unveiled a novel concept—“The Soldier as a Systemâ€
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Post by JCage »

First picture of Varunastra! From model on Republic Day

Picture
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Post by K Mehta »

Bottom left corner of the tableau shows launch pic of TAL?
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Post by JCage »

Yes indeed. Nice model depiction of TAL on choppers as well.

Behind are the HUMSA sonar consoles- not exactly accurate, the real ones look much better.
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Post by JCage »

Jai Bajrang Bali! :wink:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/200 ... 100500.htm

[quote]40 cos involved in making of missile killers

Our Bureau

Bangalore, Jan 26 At least 40 public and private companies across the country are closely involved in the making of the indigenous ballistic missile interceptors.

They have already manufactured or assembled parts and sub-systems for the first trial that took place in Orissa on December 6, 2007, according to Dr V.K. Sarswat, Chief Controller R&D (Missiles & Strategic System) and Programme Director (Air Defence), Defence Research & Development Organisation

Companies


They include Bharat Electronics Ltd and Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Astra Microwave, ASL, VemTech and KelTech. “The integrated (and fully-tested defence shield system) will be operational in three years,â€
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Post by A Sharma »

DRDO Newsletter Feb 2008

Electronics & Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), Bangalore, handed over the Technology Transfer Agreement for Fabrication and Supply of Antennas to Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Bangalore.The documents were handed over to Shri YS Mayya, Director (Technical) of ECIL, Hyderabad, in the presence of Shri PS Subramanyam, Director, ADA, and Programme Director (CA) & Project Director (TD). LRDE has done pioneering work in the area of antenna
technology including efficient and state-of-the-art fabrication processes. Design, development and fabrication of Slotted Waveguide Array Antenna is one of such technologies. These antennas are used specifically where low-profile or low-weight installations are required like in high-speed aircraft and missile seeker head. Attributes like high gain, broad-band operation, two-plane monopulse and lightweight, have made these Antennas efficient and attractive options for airborne applications.

In early nineties, LRDE started the work on Slotted Waveguide Array Technology (SWAT) for developing antenna for LCA. In less than a decade, this Establishment has achieved expertise and core competence in design, development, and fabrication technologies for antennas of any frequency band. ADA has accepted the antenna for LCA-MMR supplied by Elta, Israel.
Last edited by A Sharma on 29 Jan 2008 18:43, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by A Sharma »

Research & Development Establishment (Engineers) (R&D E (Engrs)), Pune, has developed a remotely-operated vehicle called capable of detecting hazardous materials, bombs, and nuclear radiation levels in a period of 30 months. The vehicle has an onboard gun to blast through locked doors, break windshields or glass panes of cars carrying bombs. has recently undergone extensive user trials by the Army and is slated for final confirmatory trials in early 2008.

The radiation detector can be remotely-controlled within a range of a 500 mline-of-sight or up to three floors of a building. It is expected to be an Invaluable asset for bomb disposal squads. It is also capable of towing a suspected vehicle away from a crowded area. The project has been executed by Shri Alok Mukherjee under the guidance of Shri B Rajagopalan, Director, R&D E(Engrs).

The vehicle can climb slopes and approaches to culverts and can be deployed in varied terrain if fitted with additional broad tires for slushy and marshy stretches. It can extract bombs from small culverts and drains. With a robust manipulator arm, detachable grippers, special attachments and hooks, it can be used to extract explosive devices of different sizes and shapes planted under cars and other places which are not easily accessible. The manipulator arm is capable of handling loads of up to 20 kg. It has multiple cameras on board to help the operator drive and handle sensitive objects. After removing a suspected item, takes it to an isolated area, scans it with a portable X-ray device and defuses a bomb with an onboard explosive-based water jet disrupter.
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Post by A Sharma »

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Post by sunilUpa »

A Sharma wrote:DRDO Newsletter Feb 2008

ADA has accepted the antenna for LCA-MMR supplied by Elta, Israel.
Well that settles the raging controversey we had on Elta 2032 Radar for LCA.
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Post by mandrake »

I'm confused, Antennae platform from Israel means? IIRC the Antennae is done by ECIL and BARC, means it is fabricated in Israel?
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Post by JCage »

I havent read the file but imho, it just bears out the fact that we are getting either complete 2032's or indianized variants. My comments on the MMR assistance were based on facts- I had asked about somebody "solving" A2G and was categorically told that apart from some s/w modules which were available commercially, the radars themselves were so tightly integrated, that within a short timeframe, all thats possible is to reengineer a system to make it eqvt with what a company is already familiar with or making. You cant just put in any DSP or any such thing, it involves reengineering all the way to the scanner level.
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Post by putnanja »

sunilUpa wrote:
A Sharma wrote:DRDO Newsletter Feb 2008

ADA has accepted the antenna for LCA-MMR supplied by Elta, Israel.
Well that settles the raging controversey we had on Elta 2032 Radar for LCA.
This corroborates Kartik's post earlier where he had said that the front-end would be supplied by India and back-end by Elta. Looks like LRDE's antenna will feed the Elta supplied processors
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Post by JCage »

Well it says the antenna is supplied by Elta. So thats the front end. And like I said, thats probably because Elta took one look at the MMR and timeframe and took the easy way out (with due reason).

And if we look above, it also talks of handing over the MMR antenna documentation for production to the ADA.

So adding both together, the LSP/initial radars under JV whatever will have Elta antennas, but follow ons will have the LRDE ones.
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Post by putnanja »

JC, I read the statement as "LRDE supplied antennas for Elta Radar" which I thought implied that LRDE supplying the antennas, and Elta supplying the radar( minus the antenna), and hence my statement above.
JCage
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Post by JCage »

True, you have a point, we should wait for more info. Still a bit confusing.
Rudranathh
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Post by Rudranathh »

Words of Wisdom from a wise man.

Hike defence R&D expenditure, Antony urges Indian industry
Tuesday 29th January, 2008

India's defence industry in the public and private sectors should drastically ramp up their R&D expenditure if their products are to become globally competitive, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Tuesday.

'You say you are spending 3 to 4 percent (of your outlays) on R&D. I am sorry to say this just not enough. I am not happy with this,' he said while inaugurating a national seminar here on 'Defence R&D and Technology Management'.

The Society of Defence Technologists (SODET) has organised the two-day event.

'You should take a leaf from the pharmaceutical sector. If you are not prepared to spend more on R&D, then you should keep your products in a museum,' said Antony, who is known to speak from the heart on such issues.

Some pharmaceutical majors like Ranbaxy and Dr. Reddy's Labs spend up to 10 percent of their annual budgets on R&D.

Technology is changing so fast, Antony told the gathering, that 'you have to keep pace or your products will become obsolete. Previously it took five years (for a new generation of technology to emerge). Today it takes three years'.

Unless the Indian industry shapes up, 'we would be forced to turn to foreign suppliers. I don't say we can be 100 percent indigenous and I don't believe that is possible, but we should reduce imports to the extent possible'.

According to Antony, India is emerging as a world power, 'but unless we produce more (of our requirements) how can we say that our products are the best? Our armed forces must also acknowledge that our products are superior.

'Unless you are ready with products that satisfy the armed forces, the government will be compelled to go for imports. This will create lots of problems,' Antony said.

The minister also pointed to the government's 'serious initiatives' for strengthening India's defence R&D base through the increased involvement of all players, whether private or public, Indian or foreign.

'Defence R&D and its integration into product improvement and development is an exceedingly complex and exacting process. This involves collaborative and network techniques so as to ensure that the output of research establishments are effectively translated into viable, state-of-the-art products,' Antony said.

'The variables that impact our defence preparedness and threat assessments, including regional and global political dynamics, are in a state of continuous flux, forcing us to constantly reassess threats to our security.

'All this is compounded by the remarkable technological and scientific revolution which began in the last century and is continuing at a dizzying pace.'

He said this 'exponential' growth of technology and information 'makes it all the more imperative that suitable instruments are in position to ensure that defence innovations reach their intended end users, namely the armed forces.

'The ability to move with speed in response to innovations is what will determine whether a country continues to have a winning edge or not,' he said.

In this context, Antony also served a wake up call to India's defence industry to gear up to benefit from the foreign technology that will become available due to the newly introduced offsets policy in the import of military hardware.

'Unless you move fast, both the public and the private sector combined will not be able to absorb the technology that will come our way and the entire effort would go waste.'

'Collaborative, networked RD reduce tech gaps'
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

New Delhi: With increasing globalisation in defence production, collaborative and networked research and development would enable the nation to address the technology gaps and match global standards, Defence Minister A K Antony today said.

Coupled with globalisation, there has been an increase in the number of players, especially from the private sector due to the government's offset policy. "It becomes all the more important that all players are enabled to network effectively," he said at a seminar on Defence Research and Development and Technology Management here.

Antony said collaborative and networked defence RD "can go a long way in enabling the nation address technology gaps, match global standards and promote modernisation".

The ability to move with speed in response to innovations would determine whether a country continues to have a winning edge or not, the minister said at the seminar organised by the Society of Defence Technologists.

"The variables which impact our defence preparedness and threat assessments, including regional and global political dynamics, are in a state of continuous flux, forcing us to constantly reassess threats to our security," he said.

Antony said the exponential growth of technology and information makes it imperative that suitable instruments are in a position to ensure that defence innovations reach the end users.
Vick
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Post by Vick »

From DN
[quote]Posted 01/30/08 10:26

3 Indian Firms, Boeing Join for Aerospace Tech Effort
By Vivek Raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI — Three Indian IT and research organizations have teamed with Boeing to develop network technologies for aerospace-related applications.

Wipro, HCL Technologies and the Indian Institute of Science have established with the U.S. firm a four-year venture called the Aerospace Network Research Consortium (ANRC).

“The objective of setting this network research center [ANRC] is to reduce the time and cost for aircraft network designs by developing new technology and processes with a primary focus on commercial aircraft networks,â€
bala
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Post by bala »

DRDO scientists honoured
Bangalore (PTI): K Tamilmani, Chief Executive of CEMILAC, DRDO, along with Group Directors B S Vedaprakash, S Neelakantan has been awarded the "National Aeronautical Prize" for the outstanding contribution to Aeronautics by the Aeronautical Society of India.

K Tamilmani had been recognised in the past as well by the Aeronautical Society of India awarding him Prof.V.M.Ghatge award for Design Excellence.

The award is an excellent recognision of Airworthiness and Certification tasks by the team at CEMILAC.

T Mohan Rao, Director GTRE, along with team member Dr Suresh Srivastav Scientist 'E' has been awarded "Dr V M Ghatge National Award" for outstanding contribution made to Aerospace technologies.

The contributions are related to design and development of variable Convergent - Divergent Exhaust Nozzle Linkage and Control System for Kaveri Engine.


The award was presented during the Annual General Body meeting of the society held at IIT Chennai on Friday, according to a DRDO release.
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Post by Tilak »

Wipro plans defence entry
P.R Sanjai and K. Raghu

The company will build electronic warfare systems for its partners; it has already applied for govt approvals

[quote]Mumbai / Bangalore: Wipro Ltd, which is India’s third largest software services company, will build electronic warfare systems, radars and flight simulators locally for US defence contractors, such as Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., as it pursues what are called offset contracts for missiles and aircraft sold by foreign vendors to Indian armed forces.
India’s defence offset policy mandates that foreign contractors source components and systems from local vendors for at least 30% of the value of orders of more than Rs300 crore that they get from the Indian military.
Indian companies are expected to get offset orders from global military equipment makers of nearly Rs40,000 crore up to 2011, according to the ministry of defence.
The biggest of such orders will come from local sourcing in a purchase of 126 fighteraircraft, estimated to cost Rs42,000 crore.
Taking flight: An F-16 fighter jet. Wipro is setting up dedicated units for avionics, anticipating bigger revenues from defence customers from mid-2009. The firm already has three tie-ups.
Taking flight: An F-16 fighter jet. Wipro is setting up dedicated units for avionics, anticipating bigger revenues from defence customers from mid-2009. The firm already has three tie-ups.
Wipro, the Bangalore-based company with interests from soaps to software, is setting up dedicated units for these systems, including avionics, anticipating bigger revenues from defence customers from middle of next year.
This company, chaired by Azim Hasham Premji, has plans to build command and control systems for defence equipment; design and development of flight control systems; aircraft simulators; maintenance simulators; and other communication systems associated with the defence sector, said a person familiar with the development.
“Wipro has already approached the Indian government for necessary approvals for making a strong presence in defence production,â€
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Revathi and Dunagiri

Post by maz »

Dear TSarkar

Nice pictures of Revathi, Dunagiri and other naval vessels. The lines of these Leanders are so classic. Hate to see them go.

Is it possible for you to send me hi rez versions of the Dunagiri and Taragiri pictures? Pls email me.


Regarding Vick's question about the antenna on the Dunagiri, am I correct in saying that those are DF /COMINT antennae?

Vick, as for the horizontal bar above Revathi, it is most likely the IFF transponder. Noticeable difference between the 3D-CAR and Revathi with regards to rear antenna.

Can the gurus shed light on it's function?
tsarkar
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Post by tsarkar »

Maz –

I resized the pictures and deleted the originals from both my camera & computer for obvious reasons. The originals had too many details. Generally we should avoid equipment pictures – however I wanted to document how we now use state of the art stuff unlike old days. Even the Revati here is only a test article. The production ones would be improved. If successful, Revati will be the secondary radar on major ships complementing 2248 and the primary radar on minor ships. It is the line replacement for RAWL/S radars with performance similar to 2238. In future we should standardize to two radar types.

I hope you liked the Dunagiri video, though.

The strung wires are HF SSB radio antenna. Strung wire antenna are cheap & difficult to destroy. Still used in newer ships like Talwar. Leanders had a HF direction finder that indicated bearing but not range. The IFF unit is the standard BEL unit. No rear antenna – they are microwave components.
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Post by A Sharma »

Agreement between NAL and Coral Digital Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

An agreement for collaborative development of UAV Autopilot System was signed on 30 January 2008 between NAL and Coral Digital Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore. Collaborative development of UAV autopilot requires CORAL to Integrate Microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) based accelerometers, rate gyros, global positioning sensor and air data sensors including angle of attack sensor with a processor board capable of hosting the UAV control laws and embed the onboard software developed jointly by NAL and CORAL. CORAL will manufacture and provide the UAV autopilot with onboard navigation software in India and abroad with support from NAL.
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Post by JaiS »

DRDO plans satellite-based coastal surveillance system

Tenali (AP), Feb. 6 India is planning to establish a satellite-based coastal surveillance system to monitor and guard its long coastline extending beyond 7,500 km.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has prepared a blueprint for the system and has made some headway in developing the ingredients for it, according to Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Controller (R&D).

The major national project to be launched soon would require a dedicated satellite, which would be fabricated. It has to be placed in the geostationary orbit, where India’s Insat series are operating and beaming communication, television, meteorological and other imagery to meet the country’s demands, Dr Pillai told Business Line here.

The satellite would be something on the lines of the Oceansat of the Indian Space Research Organisation.


The total cost of the project is being worked out and it would be a reality in the next 4-5 years, said the top DRDO scientist and Chief Executive Officer of BrahMos Aerospace.

Dr Pillai, who was here to receive the 16th Dr Y. Nayudamma Award and deliver the lecture, said the surveillance system was important for the country because the vast coastline needs to be continuously monitored and key assets have to be protected.

The Kochi-based Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory, under the DRDO, would be the nodal lab to implement the ambitious project.

A major feature of the system would be the installation of sea bed arrays in critical locations. They will throw up information that would be captured by the satellite. This information is relayed to a Central Control Centre. A string of smaller centre’s in different regions would also be linked for sharing the data, he said.


The ISRO has on its own put in place a satellite-based system to help fisherfolk in distress on the sea, be it due to rough sea conditions, sudden health problems etc. They are installing a receiver on fisherfolk boat, which continuously tracks their location and relays distress signals, by the pressing of the button onboard to a Central hub.
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