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

[fanne]

The big picture is if Modi/BJP had no respect for Scientific community or did not thing great of them, He would not have appointed V K Sarswat to Niti Ayog (something that has very little to do with pure science). There is more to the story.

[Victor]

What is scary is the absolute silence from PMO. One would have thought we'd get at least a little amrutanjan by now but this seems like something they don't even care to apologize for. It is certainly not going to be business as usual at the DPSUs.

[chaanakya]

BTW it seems that the stern message had sobering effect on RBI and it suddenly discovered that inflation is low etc and reduced Repo rate as Govt was requesting it to do by 25 basis point. /speculation/

chaanakya, the brilliance of your leap of imagination is blinding.
calling it speculation doesn't do it justice.

yeah Universe works in mysterious ways. cause and Effect is difficult to predict or make connection to.

[chaanakya]

What is scary is the absolute silence from PMO. One would have thought we'd get at least a little amrutanjan by now but this seems like something they don't even care to apologize for. It is certainly not going to be business as usual at the DPSUs.

Because they are not in the business of assuaging hurt feelings of <add anything here>. Message is simple perform or perish. DRDO has come in for adverse scrutiny and Head has to take the responsibility though he immensely contributed to Agni .. and is a Scientist of international repute.

Anyway now Samson quitting Censor Board or Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is the main news and MSM would have field day running it 24x7. Big moolahs raking in for TVs

[SaiK]

What is scary is the absolute silence from PMO. One would have thought we'd get at least a little amrutanjan by now but this seems like something they don't even care to apologize for. It is certainly not going to be business as usual at the DPSUs.

you should read this
http://www.newsinsight.net/Manifestdest ... age=page-1

[alexis]

Personal opinion: I don't think anybody can justify how this whole episode was handled. Albeit, except for those who believe that the `Modi govt. can not set a foot wrong', and hence try to fit causes to the effect.

It is difficult to believe that Parrikar was in the loop for the decision. His "I did this for better management" U-turn seems like an attempt to reign in the fiasco, which I think is the right thing to do now. Alas! The cat is out of the bag. He shouldn't have spoken the previous evening. He is a smart man. I am sure he will learn from this episode.

Actually, it smells like a fall-out between the PMO and the DRDO chief, and the PMO finally asserting who is boss. It may be a last-straw kind of situation, but the decision looks like a snap-reaction. Nobody knew that a replacement was being sought! Not even the DM!! That the (interim) replacement is just 3 years younger belies the official reason being parroted.

I really think the Modi govt's exceptional PR skills is still stuck in election mode. The CG episode, the ISRO chief episode and now this. There is this perennial hurry to showcase achievements. The CG's wonderful achievement was so badly mismanaged that it should be made into a case study! Why not take the time to carefully draft press releases and make the release only after ensuring that everything is in place? For example, wait for the CG ship to return, ask the experts to brainstorm on any adverse questions that might be asked, and then issue the shortest press-release required! Instead, a hurried and boisterous press release is published within hours of the operation. Inevitably, it was taken to the dogs by the media, which ultimately led to a national achievement (which it truly was at many levels) into something that can be possibly used against us! The DM had to say, "circumstantial evidences point to", "if you want, you can question the CG ship's crew", etc. etc. An internal investigation has to be launched!!!! The same goes for this episode! No matter how meritorious the decision was, couldn't they wait for an acknowledgement from the DM, the MoD spokesperson, and Dr. Chander before going public! And why on earth does such a letter have to be put up on any website at any time?!!!!

I say this as a well-wisher of the Modi-govt whom I would really like to continue for at least one more term. It is not doing itself any favours by giving fodder to the Congressis like this. It has lost a lot of well-wishers in the past two weeks. It is evident on this forum as well. Karan, Sagar, have always been strong Modi-supporters and Congress-haters!

+1

Modi and his ministers should talk to each other more.

There are multiple issues:
1. DM was not consulted on the decision
2. Not informing AC before it was leaked to the media
3. It was a mistake to upload the letter so soon
4. No clarification by PMO

The arguement for age is stupid. GoI appointed a 62 year old as ISRO head a week back.

[rohitvats]

What is scary is the absolute silence from PMO. One would have thought we'd get at least a little amrutanjan by now but this seems like something they don't even care to apologize for. It is certainly not going to be business as usual at the DPSUs.

Victor - Don't use this occasion to snipe at the DPSU. This is a last caution.

[rohitvats]

MODERATOR NOTE:

No further speculation on AC issue till any new news items come to fore. Violation will get summary warning. - rohitvats.

[johneeG]

PM scraps DRDO’s 'retirement benefits' committee
ABHINANDAN MISHRA New Delhi | 20th Sep 2014


Illustration: Sandeep Adhwaryu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to scrap the Departmental Peer Review Committee (DPRCs) of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in an attempt to revamp the outfit. The main job of this committee of DRDO scientists is to grant extensions to fellow scientists. The committee has come under scrutiny after complaints that all that these scientists do is to park retiring and retired colleagues in important posts year after year. "The PM has ordered the scrapping of the committee that reviews cases to grant extension of service to scientists who are superannuating. Giving repeated extensions to scientists, whose capabilities could be questioned, is one of the major problems with the DRDO," a DRDO official said.

Sources said that 15 top scientists in DRDO, including Director General (DG) Avinash Chander, are on extension. After getting two extensions, Chander is now on contract. "What should have been an exception, has become a norm here. Every year, six to eight senior people in DRDO get extensions. This has led to an alarming attrition rate in the organisation," said a scientist who has been working with DRDO for the last 12 years. In the seven years between 2007 and 2013, at least 687 scientists left the organisation, which comes to a rate of 100 scientists leaving the organisation every year.

The DRDO, best known for missing manufacturing deadlines, is gearing up for a hard time after PM Modi told its scientists and officials that their lackadaisical approach would not be tolerated anymore. Last month, while addressing the annual award function of the organisation in the national capital, the PM expressed his unhappiness over the way things were working in the organisation.

"The Prime Minister is clearly unhappy with the way the DRDO has been functioning, as most of our projects are running years behind schedule, resulting in cost overruns and compromising of national security. During the event, he made sure that that senior officials were made aware of his views on the subject and the fact that such lackadaisical approach would not work anymore. With the government approving 49% FDI in defence, we need to start performing now," said a senior DRDO official. Modi, while commenting on DRDO said that the organisation "should not say in 2014 that a project conceived in 1992 will take some more time".

DRDO, founded in 1958, has a network of 54 laboratories, employs close to 35,000 employees including 7,500 scientists. In July this year, the BJP-led NDA government increased DRDO's budget from Rs 5,985 crore — as provided by the UPA's interim Budget in February — to Rs 9,298 crore, the largest ever increase in the organisation's history.

However, despite being treated with extreme care by successive governments, DRDO has still not been able to shake off the negative image associated with it. Most of its projects, ranging from Tejas light combat aircraft and long-range su rface-to-air missile systems to NAG missiles are running years behind schedule.

According to officials, at least ten major projects that are being worked on by the DRDO have exceeded their stipulated date. "The major ones among these are the light combat aircraft, naval light combat aircraft, aero engine Kaveri, airborne early warning and control aircraft, long range surface-to-air missile, air-to-air missile Astra, advanced lightweight torpedo, dual colour missile approach warning system for fighter aircraft. If you include the minor ones, like the NAG missile system, then the number of incomplete projects will become even more," the official stated.

According to a former bureaucrat, who had worked in the Ministry of Defence, the government has been always generous when it came to funding the DRDO. "The DRDO has never suffered from any paucity of funds. The main problem with the organisation is at the top. No accountability is fixed on them. There is no other place where you will find senior officials being given repeated extensions despite doing nothing."

The former bureaucrat added that he had come across instances where the country's defence preparedness suffered because the DRDO first made a commitment that it would manufacture the product, but when the deadline arrived, it did not have the product. And in cases where the product was there, the quality was not acceptable. "It is a shame that due to DRDO's inefficiency the country has to import more than half of its defence requirements," he said.

Even the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has time and again come down heavily on the DRDO. "Year after year, the CAG has revealed the kind of mismanagement that has been happening in the DRDO. In February this year, CAG audits revealed that the DRDO spent Rs 52 crore to buy a cooling substance, which was to be used in the NAG missile system in 2007. The interesting part is that the NAG was not operational at the time and it is still not operational. Can you expect such kind of mismanagement from any other defence organisation in the world elsewhere?" an official with the DRDO said.

According to him, the onus of revamping the DRDO is with the Defence Minister. "The DRDO officials and the defence ministry bureaucrats will not take the bull by the horn; no one wants to disturb the status quo. It is the Defence Minister who needs to do it. The minister needs to implement the recommendation of the first-ever external review report of the DRDO, which was prepared by an independent committee of experts headed by P. Rama Rao, former secretary, Department of Science & Technology, and former ISRO man Dr Brahm Prakash. It had recommended a massive restructuring of the 50-year-old body to make it more effective," the official said.

However, Ravi Kumar Gupta, Director, Directorate of Public Interface, DRDO, said that the PM was very appreciative of the work being done by the organisation during his interaction with the officials last month. "He has positive views about the organisation and said that the organisation had a lot of potential and whatever we were doing, we were doing it in a professional way. He also said that just as it holds true for any other organisation, we too should not lose focus and follow the chalta hai attitude," Gupta said.

Link

The article seems to be quite negative about DRDO. But, ignore the negative slant of the article and focus on the news: PM scraps DRDO’s committee which used to give extensions.

So, clearly this extension policy in DRDO was not agreeable to PM and he changed it. This was reported back in Sep, 2014. So, why should anyone be surprised when the stand of this Govt seems to have been made pretty clear?

Media has been consistently reporting that new PM is not happy with the performance of DRDO and media has been quoting his remark on 'chaltha hai attitude' in his speech to DRDO.

Scientists’ retirement age to be raised to 62?
Oct 08, 2014 |


In a bid to help put acumen of scientists in some Central departments for extended use, the government is considering raising their retirement age limit from 60 to 62 years. Indications to this effect were given by minister of state for science and technology Dr Jitendra Singh here.

“The government is seriously thinking of enhancing the retirement age of the scientists to 62. The kind of acumen they achieve by the time they reach the age of 60 should be put to use for another two years. We would seriously work on the feasibility of this proposal,” the minister said, but went on to clarify that the proposal to increase the retirement age of scientists was limited to his ministries only.

Besides science and technology, Dr Singh is in-charge of earth sciences, departments of atomic energy and space and personnel, public grievances & pensions. He is also MoS PMO.

Dr Singh added that the proposal of increasing the retirement age of scientists is being deliberated, as it requires approvals from different ministries to take the “positive steps.”

Currently, the retirement age of Central government employees is 60. Many scientists serve in different ministries other than core sciences.

Also, there are several scientists heading different ministries and departments have well crossed their retirement age, but have been retained by the government owing to their experience and expertise.

Link

So, there are two simultaneous steps planned:
a) end the extension policy
b) increase the retirement age of scientists to 62(and no extensions beyond that)

I think this is a good policy. Frankly, I think increasing the retirement age is not necessary. 60 years is a good time to retire.

[schinnas]

[/quote]

Link

So, there are two simultaneous steps planned:
a) end the extension policy
b) increase the retirement age of scientists to 62(and no extensions beyond that)

I think this is a good policy. Frankly, I think increasing the retirement age is not necessary. 60 years is a good time to retire.[/quote]

Agreed for most part. Most government employees do not keep a level of physical fitness and endurance required to put in 14 hour work days and lead from the front after 60. They need to watch out for diabetes, hypertension, etc., and tend to take it easy. There are some exceptions. I am for keeping retirement age at 60 and providing very limited exceptions (which is capped at max 1 or 2 a year as opposed to current list of 8 to 10 per year).

When an organization is consistently not performing, the top leadership should be changed and a revival specialist brought in. Looks like thats what Modi is doing. This sends a message.

[chetak]

Missile boss axe swivels glare on rot

SUJAN DUTTA


15 January 2015


New Delhi


The sacking of Avinash Chander as the country's top defence technocrat yesterday has brought back into focus allegations of murky deals with international arms lobbies, corruption and nepotism, professional jealousies at the top and a failure to deliver usable and accurate weapons.

The rot had institutionalised itself over the years - long before Chander was appointed to the post on May 31, 2013 - and marked even the tenure of his predecessor, V.K. Saraswat. Saraswat was last week appointed as a full member of the Niti Ayog, which took over some functions of the Planning Commission, with the rank of a minister of state.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said today that even he had learnt of the sacking of Chander from the media though he had recommended that the office should be held by a younger person. Like Antony, the defence minister in the UPA II regime, Parrikar has also promised a revamp of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) that Chander headed. In addition to his job as the head of the DRDO, Chander was also the scientific adviser to the defence minister.

In New Delhi, the headquarters of the DRDO is a gleaming block of Jaipur sandstone behind South Block. Entry is restricted. The terrace on the third-floor offers a view of the central vista rivalled only by the buildings on Raisina Hill. It is from here every other month, year on year, that the DRDO makes claims of successful missile tests, and of being avant-garde in technology.

The claims only make for a smokescreen that barely dispels the rot that has set into the government outfit that this year has a budget of more than Rs 15,000 crore for 52 establishments and 30,000 employees, including 7,500 technologists.

DRDO insiders believe Saraswat and Chander never got along though both had similar profiles before rising to the top. Both Saraswat and Chander are missile technologists, both protégés of the original missile man, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. While Saraswat was credited within the organisation for the development of the surface-to-surface Prithvi missile and its variants, Chander was honoured for his contribution to the Agni series.

Parrikar said the impression that Chander had been given an extension by his government after superannuating in November "was wrong". Chander's appointment for three years was approved in May 2013. Under the terms of the order by the appointments committee of the cabinet, he would retire in November and continue to serve for a further 18 months on a contract.
"And my contention was that such a post of that importance cannot be held by a person on contract," the defence minister said.

In the UPA regime, Saraswat, Chander's predecessor, ran into tough times with the establishment himself. Antony restricted his fiscal powers and instituted an audit of the DRDO by the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA).

The report by the CGDA said, among other things, that the DRDO was entering into agreements with Israeli firms unnecessarily. It specifically named one Israeli firm, Semi-Conductor Devices Ltd, with which DRDO had entered into an arrangement that the auditors questioned.

"Chander was actually against this," DRDO insiders say. "He was trying to source components for missiles from other countries and that probably angered his masters," alleges Prabhu Dandriyal, a right to information activist who is almost always investigating the operations of the DRDO.

The CGDA audit also said that barely 10 per cent of the projects undertaken by the DRDO were eligible for consideration by the users (the armed forces).

On November 29 last year, a day before Chander was to superannuate, the Prime Minister's Office, in response to an RTI request from Dandriyal, said it had received three complaints against Chander. Two had been forwarded to the national security adviser and the cabinet secretary. A third complaint was still being studied.

The third complaint was from Navin Prakash Gupta, who is with the DRDO's Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), a Hyderabad-based outfit that Chander himself headed before moving to New Delhi.

In the seven-page complaint (with 17 annexures), Gupta questioned the appointment of Chander as the head of the DRDO after two extensions (till he was 64 years of age) and doubted if he could be called a scientist of "international stature" as the ACC (appointments committee of cabinet) had remarked in May 2013 (under the UPA regime).

In other complaints, the DRDO technologists alleged that Chander had promoted Tessy Thomas over other more qualified peers. Thomas was described in media as India's first "missile woman" after she was made project director for the Agni-IV missile. In the complaints, Chander was also alleged to have created a post for Thomas's husband, a retired commodore from the navy, and accommodated him in a DRDO laboratory, overriding the claims of qualified DRDO employees.

The responses of the government to the complaints are still pending.

Saraswat, after retirement, joined the Centre for Technology and Scientific Studies as its dean. The centre is associated with the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), the think tank that used to be headed by Ajit Doval, now the national security adviser.

Sources in the defence ministry said that although Chander would technically serve till January 31, he had been "attached" to the PMO. He was to have met a delegation from a western country this morning but the appointment was cancelled.

Defence minister Parrikar has said that "things will happen" in the DRDO.

In the weeks ahead, the DRDO will have to be consulted on important technology-transfer issues with the US. An India-US framework agreement on defence is due to be renewed during the visit of President Barack Obama later this month. A revised list of items for technology transfer under a Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) is in the works

[chaanakya]

ChANakya:

This decision has come at the end of this process. And that is why his decisions carry weight and would stand in face of frivoulous criticisms on the manner of implementation or whether the Babus were informed of it or not. These are not sine qua non.

AC is not a career burocrat. He is a career scientist. By the way, I do not have dictionary handy. What does "sine qua non" mean? Latin?

Career has to end some day and the career scientist can continue being scientist with having a "career" I think it would be most appropriate for the scientist to join his alma mater and do some pioneering work on select projects in fields of missile related tech and train younger generation of engineers and scientists in a tight integration of Industry academia complex being envisaged by NaMo. BTW it is not sine Qua non to have a dictionary to understand its meaning.

[member_28932]

Link

So, there are two simultaneous steps planned:
a) end the extension policy
b) increase the retirement age of scientists to 62(and no extensions beyond that)

I think this is a good policy. Frankly, I think increasing the retirement age is not necessary. 60 years is a good time to retire.

In view of shortage of scientist and nature of intellectual and experienced work involved, 62 years should be good.

Had i been in charge of DRDO, I would give utmost importance to Project management skills of Senior level scientist involved one or another project. DRDO does not lack talent but they are poor in managing the project. They can learn from ISRO in this area.

[nits]

I have a slightly different take on this if I compare it with IT World ( where I belong)

Technical and Mgmt are two different domains and it is very common for a person who is super Technical Expert in his field but not a Great Manager. For instance Sachin T - He is a great player but not a Good Captain. I know I am comparing Apples with Mangoes but this are traits that any job irrespective of domain requires...

So AC is and always will be a great scientist but GOI felt he is not a Great Manager to lead DRDO when there are so many projects (Read - Delivery) which are behind schedule and with Cost Over Run. I have seen resources in IT World getting fired within a minute notice and escorted out by Security when Company Finances are Bad & they have worked in that company for whole of there Life Time...

I agree AC deserved more respect but GOI wanted to pass out a message to all PSU and this was one of the way to do it and they did it...

[Karan M]

Wow.. looks like you six guys above couldn't give a darn for the moderator note @ 9:28 to stop discussions on the AC issue. Wokay.

Can mods delete them please and get this back on track. Enough discussion, whats done is done. And lets expect more positive stuff. Good moves from Parrikar on disabled veterans, MSME policy next and DAC reform.

[Karan M]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed ... 04769.aspx

In continuation of giving a big boost to its capability for test and evaluation of personal protective systems, the Defence Research and Development Organisaton (DRDO) commissioned ballistics test facility at Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) Range, Ramgarh, on Thursday.

Avinash Chander, scientific adviser to union defence minister and chief of DRDO inaugurated the test facility in presence of VG Sekaran, director general of missiles and strategic system, Prateek Kishore, director missile, J Chattopadhyay, director DRDO headquarter, Manjit Singh, director TBRL, and associate directors and officers and staff of the TBRL.

This is a state-of-the-art facility specialising in ballistics evaluation of protective systems and research on life-saving articles as per the international standards.

Inaugurating the facility, Chander said it would be extremely useful for the test and evaluation of wide range of armours such as bullet proof jackets, helmets, bomb blankets, bomb baskets, and various types of armour panels for tanks and vehicles.

Should help the private sector as well.

[Karan M]

DRDO set to test canister version of Agni-5

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 9
In a big boost to India’s missile technology, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is set to test launch the canister version of the 5,000-km range Agni-5 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) shortly.

The canister version, in which the 17.5 meter tall, 50-tonne missile is stored in and launched from a hermetically sealed canister made of maraging steel, would make it the missile fully road or rail mobile, giving a great deal of secrecy and flexibility to the country’s strategic strike capability. The alternate to using canister is fixed ground-based silos which are vulnerable to surveillance and attack.

The test is scheduled to be held in the first week of February, a top DRDO functionary said. DRDO was earlier planning to test the missile in November last week, but postponed it due to technical reasons.

Stated to be India’s most potent weapon, nuclear capable Agni-5’s range covers the entire Chinese mainland, Siberia, Eastern Europe including the Italian peninsula, east Africa, Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, Western coast of Australia and South East Asia

It was first successfully test-fired in April 2012 from Wheelers Island in Odisha, followed by a second test in September 2013. It is expected to be handed over to the Armed Forces for user trials in about a year’s time and be operational in about two years.

Agni-5 is the fifth ballistic missile in the Agni series

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation ... 28289.html

[Karan M]

Might be repeats but some data nonetheless.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/d ... 725526.ece

The wheeled version of UAV Nishant can take off from and land on small airstrips

Panchi, the wheeled version of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Nishant, capable of taking off from and landing on small airstrips, had its maiden flight on December 24 from an airfield at Kolar in Karnataka.

The aim of the flight, which lasted 25 minutes, was “to demonstrate that Panchi can take off and land on its wheels. It was a textbook flight,” said Anil Kumar Agarwal, Project Director, Panchi. The flight was preceded by high-speed taxi trials that began at the Kolar airfield on November 22.

Panchi was designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) facility at Bengaluru.

K. Tamilmani, Director-General (Aeronautical Systems) of the DRDO, lauded “the aggressive efforts in the past eight months by the ADE team, which led to the creation of this version.”

Nishant, which has an underbelly airbag, is launched by a catapult, and lands with the help of an onboard parachute. Panchi has all the surveillance capabilities of Nishant, but it can stay in the air longer because it does not have to carry the airbag and the parachute systems of the other. It is also a light vehicle with its body made of composites, and has a high degree of stealth because it has a low radar cross-section signature.

Mr. Agarwal said that since the Army wanted a wheeled version of Nishant, the ADE quickly developed it with modifications to the hardware and software.

Ravi Kumar Gupta, Director of Public Interface, DRDO, said Nishant which had already been with the Army, was designed for battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance, tracking of targets and artillery fire correction. A sophisticated image processing system was used for analysing the images transmitted by it.

[Karan M]

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/techno ... 722384.ece

Next generation unmanned aerial vehicle Rustum2, which is capable of operating at an altitude of 30,000 feet and 24-hour endurance with a payload of 350 kg, will be made available within a year, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Secretary Avinash Chander said on Tuesday.

The UAV would be used for defence operations, including reconnaissance and target identification.

Delivering the 27th Intelligence Bureau Centenary Endowment Lecture on “Emerging Technological Challenges for National Security,” Dr. Chander said the UAV was capable of carrying sensors like aperture radar, maritime patrol radar, communication and electronic intelligence, optical and infrared imagery sensors, including those developed indigenously.

While the Nishant UAV is already in use by security forces, the RUSTOM1, with a capability of 7-8 hours of endurance is also ready. While aerostats, which operate at an altitude of 1 km for surveillance activities, have already been developed, a team of young scientists is working on lighter aerial platforms with a capability to fly at 60,000- 70,000 feet.

“High energy weapons, capable of destroying/disabling systems at tens of kilometres, are going to be vital. Unmanned Ground Vehicles will be participating in intelligent missions capable of identifying and distinguishing between friendly and enemy systems with proper signature management,” said Dr. Chander, adding that advanced data compression techniques have enabled soldiers to transmit video imagery through hand-held devices.

Space security infrastructure

Dr. Chander also flagged the necessity to strengthen space security infrastructure. “To achieve self-reliance in the satellite navigation system, India is establishing the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System with dependents from across all the services. It is necessary to safeguard such system of national importance...space assets are vulnerable to electronic warfare like jamming, laser attacks, killer micro-satellites,” he said.

[Karan M]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-new ... 07063.aspx

AC stuff snipped..

HT looked at the report and found that 10 projects, worth an average sanctioned cost of Rs. 1,686 crore, have been delayed on an average of 5 years.

The highest delay was suffered by Aero Engine Kaveri, which is late by 4,745 days already and the revised day of completion is still under revision, followed by the phase two of the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas which is 2,555 days behind schedule. Both of the projects have a sanctioned cost of Rs. 2,839 crore and Rs. 5,777 crore respectively.

Prominent reasons for delays, as shown in the report, include lack of infrastructure and technology that led to re-designing, non-
availability of indigenous raw material to the organisation not anticipating the requirements of a few projects.

Remedial steps suggested by the DRDO range from development activities being outsourced, personnel working multiple shifts, close
monitoring by stakeholders to changing phased development approach to concurrent approach.

Significantly, around 5 projects have been closed by the DRDO in the recent past, that were sanctioned at a total cost of Rs. 65 crore, with Rs. 6 crore out of these amount already spent.

Lack of fund, manpower

The committee found that DRDO suffers from lack of funds and manpower. The organisation projected an amount of Rs. 18,495 crore, but was allocated an amount of Rs. 15,283 crore, denoting a shortfall of Rs. 3,212 crore.

Moreover, out of the total defence budget, DRDO's share was 6.98% in 2009-10, but reduced to 5.37% in 2013-14.

The share of DRDO to total GDP also declined to 0.09% in 2013-14 from 0.13% in 2009-10.

The committee also states that around 7,809 number of scientists work with DRDO as against the sanctioned strength of 7,932 as per government order in 2001.

The standing committee observed that DRDO's projects grew manifold, both in quantity and quality, but there has been no increase in the sanctioned manpower since the 2001 government order.

And around 65 scientists resigned on an average from the DRDO from 2009 to 2013. Till October 2014, around 23 scientists had resigned, mostly on personal grounds.

Way out

The solution could be to increase the budgetary provision of the DRDO, in tune with indigenisation policies of the government, and provide adequate incentive and professional growth opportunities, before sacking people.

Regardless, it must be noted that DRDO has achieved a lot with its meagre budget. For approximately Rs 70,000 crore spent in a decade (2002-12) DRDO seemingly developed various missiles, drones, radar systems and carried other forms of research.

In contrast, USA's unmanned aerial vehicle projects, the UAV Predator and the UAV Reaper, alone have a total project cost of Rs. 14,000 crore and Rs. 60,000, respectively.

[Karan M]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 795997.cms

BENGALURU: Vice President of India M Hamid Ansari on Wednesday inaugurated modernised Software Technology Centre (BSTC) of Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Bengaluru.

BSTC is a part of the Central Development & Engineering Group of BEL-Bengaluru and is the software development centre of BEL. The Vice President also visited the state-of-the-art manufacturing / integration / test facilities for the Akash Missile System and the Coastal Surveillance System at BEL-Bengaluru Complex.

SK Sharma, chairman and managing director, BEL, said: "In modern day warfare, software is playing a crucial role. Realizing its importance, BEL has been building up expertise in software for defence applications. The inauguration of the new facility today is a major milestone in our endeavor in this direction. The major strength of this Centre is its capability to quickly grasp the requirements of the Defence forces and develop suitable software application to meet the operational requirements."

[Karan M]

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/com ... 789513.ece

All Strategic Business Units of BEL-Bengaluru participated in the development programme
Bengaluru, January 14:

Public sector Bharat Electronics Limited’s (BEL) strong belief in indigenisation attracted a total of 33 vendors at its national vendor development programme.

The company provided space for vendors to display their products at its industrial exhibition as part of the vendor development programme.

The vendor-development-programme-cum-exhibition saw display of various products and services from MSME, NSIC and KSSIDC and three stalls from BEL Ancillary Units. All the Strategic Business Units (SBUs) of BEL-Bengaluru exhibited their components/sub-systems/systems/products and services at the vendor programme.

The Government of India’s Central Public Procurement Policy makes it mandatory for all Central PSUs/Departments to procure a minimum of 20 per cent of their requirements of stores/services from medium, small-scale and micro enterprises (MSMEs).

“This is a huge opportunity for MSMEs. The BEL programme aimed to help bridge the gap between the PSU and MSMEs,” said Manmohan Handa, Director (Bangalore Complex), BEL.

Handa further said, “A total number of 457 visitors registered for the event, of which, 66 were exhibitors. Of the registrants, 300 were registered vendors and 80 were new vendors.” Prahalad, Senior DGM (MS), BEL said BEL strongly believes in indigenization and with its strong thrust on in-house R&D, has won several awards for indigenization and has several successful indigenous products and systems to its credit. MSME vendors can contribute by providing various components, sub-systems and services.[/bb]

[Karan M]

http://www.financialexpress.com/article ... rts/26382/

Make in India’ in mind, BEL plans to ramp up R&D to boost exports
By: Huma Siddiqui | New Delhi | January 6, 2015 1:07 am
PSU defence-equpiment manufacturer Bharat Electronics (BEL) is ramping up internal R&D efforts and planning to fund advanced systems in a big way to boost exports, which were a modest $42 million in 2013-14.

In 2013-14, the company for the first time exported sonar systems, and now hopes to export coastal radar systems to two nations. For this, it has been in touch with the ministry of external affairs (MEA). With a relatively stronger R&D base and a close collaboration with DRDO, the company relies on indigenous technology for about 75% of its turnover, and on foreign technology for the rest.

The reason behind BEL’s optimism, sources said, is that it is expecting bigger export orders on account of offsets arising from contracts with foreign orginal equipment manufacturers (OEMs). BEL has established MoUs with several companies, including IAI & Elbit Systems of Israel, US-based defence giants Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, for possible offset business arising out of various request for proposal (RfP) issued by the MoD.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said, “Several defence PSU and ordnance factories can outsource work to the private sector by identifying the industries, creating clusters, giving them work and increasing productivity. Indigenisation can be increased up to 70% from the existing 30% through this method.”

For this, the defence ministry is also streamlining its policy. “The policy is undergoing a change; it is being streamlined and it is one of our agendas in ‘Make in India’. That at least 8-10 projects are started every year. Once this happens, defence production and development will attain a critical volume which would be able to carry the industry forward,” said G Mohan Kumar, the secretary (defence production) while inaugurating 7th International Conference on Aerospace, Defence & Homeland Security’ organised by an industry chamber on Monday. “The MoD is seriously considering setting up a promotional body which would be able to assess the producers not only in bringing investments but also finding markets,” Kumar said.

Defence ministry officials say there is a need to instill confidence in defence PSUs and the Ordnance Factory Board for competing with the private sector. “PSUs have to leverage on the opportunities available in the private sector; they need to build partnerships with the private sector and become more efficient,” an official who did not wish to be named said.

According to a McKinsey report, for India’s defence export dream to come true, some critical supports are needed— especially talent availability, infrastructure, and sound regulation. The report said India will have to build its aerospace and defence expertise: though India is one of the world’s largest producers of engineers (about 350,000 per year), only about 4,000 or so are aeronautical experts.

Sonars were the DRDO HUMSA variants for small ships IIRC.

[Karan M]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/453 ... -navy.html

MHA gives Coast Guard, Navy smart ID scanners

New Delhi, Jan 15, 2015, DHNS:
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday formally handed over the first set of smart identity-checking scanners to the Navy and Coast Guard to check identity cards of the residents of coastal areas. PTI file photo

Singh gave away the Resident Identity Card (RIC) readers to Navy Chief Admiral R K Dhowan and Coast Guard Director-General Vice-Admiral A G Thapliyal at a function here. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was also present.

The office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner is implementing the scheme of preparing RICs for residents of coastal areas. It is aimed to strengthen coastal security measures in nine states and 4 Union territories with a 7516.60 km long coastline.

One of the measures to strengthen coastal security was the creation of National Population Registrar (NPR) in 3,331 coastal villages. A Home Ministry official said around 65 lakh people living in coastal areas have been issued such cards as of now.

The smart card readers are capable of demographic and biometric authentication on an offline mode and are manufactured indigenously by ITI Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL).

[Karan M]

Older article but reprint
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/com ... 272372.ece

Astra Microwave to set up R&D centre in Bangalore
M Somasekhar
The Rs. 531 crore, Astra Microwave Private Limited (AMPL) is establishing a new research and development Centre in Bangalore. It will focus on developmental work related to radars for defence, security, medical and civilian applications. A budget of Rs. 25 crore has been allocated for the next 3 to 5 years, said Shiban K Koul, its Chairman.

The Hyderabad-based company specialising in developing indigenous products for the strategic defence and space sectors achieved a record growth, with impressive orders for exports under the defence offset programme. It has an order book of Rs. 813 crore.

The Bangalore R&D Centre, with 10 staff is all set to start functioning from leased premises. The company has bought land which will be used to establish the full fledged centre soon. The present investment is towards buying equipment and software to begin work, said Gurunath Reddy, Chief Financial Officer and Director of the company.

The Centre will develop complete systems. The main R&D of AMPL in Hyderabad is engaged in bringing out new products to broad base the offerings for the domestic market. It is working on products like Seekers, Advance Radar Warning Receivers and Wind Profile Radar, which has the potential to deliver volume business down the line. It employs nearly 300 people at present, he told Business Line.

Talking about the financial performance, Reddy said for the first quarter of the current fiscal the net profit and turnover registered manifold increase compared the same quarter last year. The profit stood at Rs. 19 crore (Rs 2 crore) and turnover was Rs. 188 cr (Rs 37 cr). The EPS for the present quarter was 2.33 (.26).

[Karan M]

Data Patterns has updated its website

http://www.datapatternsindia.com/product/product.php

Huge range of items

[SaiK]

who are they? history? not clear from their website. definitely not a yum yen see.

[Karan M]

A privately run company from Chennai, which works closely with DRDO across multiple programs.

[hnair]

Anyway those are not accusations as I have not attributed anything to AC but the fact that congis did favour him and many others a big time. The use of word "willy nilly" and : may be" should have made it amply clear. But as forum policy is not to discuss Mod's decision I think another warning is due and will be in order. It could be third if you missed one or second if you were kind enough to give one warning for two "offence"

Sounds like a cry for help. See you in a month

[ramana]

KaranM, Are you familar with EVM (Earned Value Management) process? Using the data in the HT article one can come up with cost and schedule variance for those projects and see what EVM metrics reveal.

[SaiK]

ramana, would it not be only valid for completed projects?

[ramana]

not really ongoing projects will reveal a lot.
BTW we dont know how much scope change contributed to cost and schedule overruns in the Committee report.

[SaiK]

if we can know what changed, and how much was increased, then we can approximate

[d_berwal]

Guess this is the correct thread to post it, but this has nothing to do with R&D in DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

This is R&D and innovation by Army for itself.

http://www.narendramodi.in/appreciable- ... -officers/

PM Shri Narendra Modi lauded the young innovators of the Army and shared details of their innovations on above link.

List of what Army could do for itself:

- Unmmanned Ground Logistics Delivery System
- Indigenised Sub Systems for Long Range Reconnaissance and Observation System (LORROS)
- Remotely Controlled Reconnaissance Vehicle
- Monitoring System for Armoured (Tank) Formations During Operations:
- Indigenisation of Components of 155mm BOFORS Arty Gun
- Integration of Day and Night Camera with Unattended Ground Sensor
- Real Time Tracking System for Mobile Patrols
- System for Monitoring Serviceability of Electrical Transformers

Har har modi ghar ghar modi.. (hope no one takes offense of this)

[Yagnasri]

http://www.oneindia.com/india/oneindia- ... 24052.html

Interesting item. Sorry if already posted.

[Thakur_B]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/g ... 797531.ece

Govt looking to corporatise the ordnance factories and making them compete for orders with other suppliers.

[Karan M]

Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd has now set sight on becoming a defence OEM by 2016


Bharat Forge
The year was 1984. Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Aavdi was undertaking indigenisation of T-72 tanks which also included forging of road wheels. These are made of special aluminum alloys which need to be forged, heat treated, rubberised and assembled with various components.

The Russians, who were the transfer of technology (ToT) partners of HVF, totally gave up the idea that such road wheels could be made in India. This (over) confidence of the Russians was fuelled not only due to the complexities involved in the forging of road wheels but also because of the fact that the process required a 60,000 lbs press (as done by the Russians) and no Indian company was in possession of the same at that time. Kalyani Group decided to take up the challenge upfront.

Without any order or commitment, they manufactured a full tank set i.e. 24 wheels, and rubberised it with Israeli technology and supplied the complete set free of cost to HVF, all this at an investment of Rs 4 crore. This hitherto unachievable feat was achieved by splitting the operation in three stages using the available 25,000 lbs press against the single operation done by Russians by their 60,000 lbs press. When these wheels supplied by the Kalyani Group were put to user trials along with the Russian ones, they completed a record-breaking 5,000 km vis-à-vis the mandatory 3,000 km, thereby surpassing the performance of the Russian wheels by a large margin. The rest, as they say, is history. The Group went on to become the preferred supplier of road wheels to HVF and till date have supplied over 85,000 wheels, with present supplies being 400 wheels per month. And to add to the glory is the fact that these 85,000 odd wheels have been supplied without any single instance of failure.

......................

It is with this same passion that Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd (KSSL), a group company of the Kalyani Group, has embarked upon a journey in the defence sector. This Pune-based Indian multinational and the flagship company of the more than USD 2.5 billion-worth Kalyani Group, is a global forging conglomerate. It is the largest exporter of auto components from India and leading chassis component manufacturer in the world. With manufacturing and engineering facilities spread across 12 locations and six countries, the Group has the capability to meet global demands of its customers by providing seamless engineering and design support. The company has a 10,000 strong, highly skilled, global base of engineers and technicians at its various manufacturing locations. The company’s USP lies in the full service supply capabilities that it has developed which range from product conceptualisation to design, manufacture, machining, testing and validation. Based on these, the company has built strong, sustainable and durable customer relationships, which have resulted in the company’s partnering with customers in their long term product development programmes.
....................

As part of its major diversification strategy, the Kalyani Group is now focusing on non-automotive space mainly, defence and aerospace, and the power sector. The focus areas in defence are artillery systems, precision ammunition, armoured vehicle upgrade, protected vehicles and homeland security. Apart from these, the Group is also focusing on marine and aerospace.
.....................

Albeit, over past 35 years the Group has been a traditional supplier of components and subsystems to Indian defence, including a wide range of safety and critical components like ammunition and shells, aluminum road wheels, track shoe assembly for MBTs, Grad BM 21 rocket tubes, T-72 crankshafts, front axle beams, steering knuckles, transmission parts, etc. However, all these supplies were restricted to only component and subsystem levels. KSSL is now targeting the system level segment. The vision is to become a defence original equipment manufacturer (OEM) by 2016 and for this KSSL has launched itself on a challenging journey by making major investments to take on the emerging challenges in the area of defence.

http://forceindia.net/ByInvitationForgingAhead.aspx

[Philip]

Ck the link for the hits and misses box.

DRDO, the giant firing blanks
C Uday Bhaskar | January 20, 2015,

New Delhi: The unceremonious sacking of DRDO chief Avinash Chander on January 13 well before the end of his current tenure and the shabby and graceless manner in which it was done was further compounded by the statement of defence minister Manohar Parrikar that even he came to know of this decision only through the media although he had recommended it earlier to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. It was suggested that the services of the DRDO chief were being abruptly terminated since the government wanted to induct someone younger from within the organisation “with an urge for development.”

The Delhi grapevine refers to sordid intrigue and factional rivalry within the DRDO for this seemingly arbitrary and impetuous decision. However the manner in which the highest levels of governance — in this case, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet — are being perceived in the public domain brings little credit to the Modi government.

The relatively new defence minister has every right to appoint a new team, for the DRDO chief also functions as the scientific adviser to the minister. However, given that the NDA government had in November 2014 approved Chander’s extension till May 2016, announcing the sudden termination of his tenure reflects poorly on the texture of higher defence management. The fact that Chander is a highly respected professional and deemed to be the ‘missile man’ who delivered the Agni and recipient of various honours including the Padma award testifies to his professional competence in an unambiguous way.

Paradoxically the defence minister’s intent — that the DRDO needs a review and shake-up — is more than timely but the fact that he chose to effect it in this manner may be counter-productive to the organisation.

Set up in 1958 along with the departments of atomic energy and space as part of the Nehruvian blue-print for the scientific and technological development of India, the DRDO began with 10 laboratories and is now a large enterprise with over 50 labs.

The mandate of the DRDO was to enable the Indian military in enhancing its operational capability, especially in areas where such technology from foreign sources was either unsuitable, denied or unaffordable — what former DRDO Emeritus Scientist Dr V Siddhartha refers to as the ‘triple trap’.

The DRDO had to navigate through this adversarial domain with limited fiscal, HR and technological assets and its 56-year record is mixed and muddied. The more visible success is in the strategic domain where the Indian nuclear deterrent was enabled to a large extent by the scientific and technological eco-system nurtured by the ‘trimurti’ – the atomic energy-space-DRDO combine.

There are other areas such as sonars, radars and electronic warfare where the DRDO has enabled the armed forces but the disappointment is with larger platforms such as the main battle tank, the light combat aircraft and the Trishul anti-missile defence system.

In each case, the DRDO promised more than it could deliver and consequently prevented the armed forces from importing the inventory sorely needed for maintaining appropriate operational capability. While time and cost overruns in such projects are the norm in other countries as well – DRDO has not been able to win the trust and confidence of the user – the Indian military and has often played the role of a dog in the manger.

The case of the failed Trishul surface-to-air missile is particularly deplorable and reeks of deliberate obfuscation by the DRDO with fabricated aspersions leading to an FIR being filed against the political and naval apex in 2006. The trust deficit between the military leadership and the DRDO is deep and bitter and Admiral Arun Prakash, former Naval chief, charges the institution with “intellectual dishonesty.”

The strategic management of high technology is a complex managerial domain and is mediated as much by tangible scientific and technological acumen and capacity, as also by national culture and the collective effort to strive for excellence. India while blessed with considerable individual excellence in these domains has not burnished its manufacturing capability across the board.

The first gunpowder factory was established in India in Ishapore in 1787 and a gun and carriage manufacturing facility in 1801. Allied operations in southeast Asia during WW II provided a tremendous boost with the setting up of ordnance factories and aircraft-overhaul facilities in India. Instead of capitalising on this sound foundation, post 1947 and the debacle of 1962, the higher national security apparatus was unable to nurture an eco-system that would ensure something as basic as an Indian-designed personal weapon.

Nothing demonstrated this failure better than the eventual rejection of the DRDO-designed Indian Small Arms System (Insas) by the Army. Consequently more than 50 years after 1962, India, which has a uniformed constituency of almost two million (military, para-military and police), does not have appropriate indigenous design and manufacturing capacity to equip its soldiers with a modern personal weapon.

This void is a stark reflection of the poverty of astute higher national security management; successive governments from Nehru to UPA-II have proved unable or unwilling to redress this bleak reality. Here the combined spectrum of the politician, bureaucrat, general and scientist is culpable for having taken the easy option — import or make do with the inventory deprivation.

Progressively India’s military import bill rose and the UPA government set up the Rama Rao-led Task Force which carried out a detailed review of the DRDO and made valuable recommendations — the central one being to focus on select hi-tech weapon systems deemed critical for the military. This report has not been tabled in Parliament or discussed and remains under wraps.

An objective and empathetic structural review of DRDO is imperative and apart from improving HR by inducting young blood — as Prime Minister Modi has directed — the entire eco-system of national design and manufacturing endeavour that includes the private sector and academia needs to become willing stake holders. This is a mammoth task and warrants perspicacious political direction.

Dramatically sacking the DRDO chief is more symbolic than substantive as regards infusing institutional vitality.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/150120/c ... ing-blanks

[Ramu]

[Rant on] Do we really have to go through this vicious circle of bashing and de bashing.. day after day after day after day.. and thread after thread after thread after thread? Was there anyhing new mentioned in that article or you are new to this forum? This is beyond a point that a mod warning would bother me [Rant off]

[ramana]

Right. In that case look at who the author is and ruminate.

Some clean up has to be done and its unfortunate it has to start somewhere.