Hello, Warriors. The Indian Armed forces had undertaken innumerable exercises and underwent many rescue and relief operations in 2015. From joint exercises with friendly foreign nations to Chennai’s flood relief operations, the Armed forces had never backed at the call of distressed.
This could not have been possible without the backbone that supported them all the time- The DRDO. Here is a look back at the achievements of DRDO in 2015 that will make us all proud:
- In 2015, in the arena of tactical weapon systems – the DRDO produced and inducted Akash Missile, the medium range air defence system with multi-target, multi-directional capability.
- The state-of-the-art beyond visual range air to air missile Astra, capable of engaging targets decisively was integrated with Su30 combat aircraft. Designed to arm Mig 29, Su30 and India’s own Tejas aircraft, Astra has undergone series of successful flight trials.
- The supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, designed to be launched from land, air, sea and sub-sea platforms, is a preferred weapon system. 10 Navy ships are equipped with BrahMos, a deadly weapon, and the Army has with two regiments. The underwater launched version underwent successful trial from a submerged pontoon. Recently, BrahMos was successfully test fired with high precision from Indian Navy’s newest stealth destroyer INS Kochi.
- HELINA, an Anti-tank Guided missile that can be fired in both direct and top attack mode was integrated on advanced light helicopter ALH. The missile with capability to defeat futuristic armours is undergoing field trials.
- India’s first Light Weight Multi-role Supersonic Combat Aircraft Tejas, a 4th Generation-Plus contemporary fighter aircraft having recorded over 2500 flawless take offs and landings, demonstrated its might during the “Iron Fist”, a fire power demonstration exercise of Indian Air Force. Having undergone extensive weapon trials, extreme weather trials, high altitude and sea level trials, LCA TEJAS received the Initial Operational Clearance on 29th December 2013 and is heading towards achieving the final Operational Clearance. Boosted by the Initial Operational Clearance of LCA TEJAS, the LCA Navy, capable of operating from aircraft carrier ship, has resumed its flight trials after its maiden flight in April 2012.
- DRDO’s technological strength is exemplified by the development, production and acceptance of Indigenous Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) Swathi. Swathi is a highly mobile Radar system designed for automatic first round location of weapons firing projectile type rounds, it operates with a fence detection mode of operation, ensuring fast detection and tracking of shells, mortars and rockets.
- In the direction of establishing a credible Integrated Electronic Warfare Systems (IEWS), DRDO achieved a major breakthrough with the development of Himshakti. The Field Evaluation & Trials for any EW System prior to induction have been conducted for the first time in the actual area of deployment.
- In a Significant contribution to boost Firepower, the development of Pinaka MKII with longer range has been completed and is undergoing trials.
- A state-of-the-art hydrodynamic test Facility Sea keeping and Manoeuvring Basin has been established at NSTL, Visakhapatnam and dedicated to the Nation by the Defence Minister. The facility will be used for conducting model testing for prediction of sea keeping and manoeuvring performance of newly designed ships and submerged bodies under different environmental conditions and for optimising the motion characteristics of the hull form and effectiveness of the control devices under various manoeuvres.
- MAAREECH an indigenous Advanced Torpedo Defence System to protect naval platform against torpedo attack has been inducted in the Indian Navy.
- A new Torpedo launch and recovery vessel INS ASTRADHARINI developed by DRDO has been commissioned by Indian Navy (FOC-in-C East). The vessel has been designed with a unique catamaran hull form that significantly reduces its power requirement and can operate at high sea states and has a large deck area with launchers for deploying and recovering various kinds of Torpedoes during the trials.
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Furthermore, in order to promote ‘Make in India’ programme, DRDO has brought out comprehensive guidelines for Transfer of Technology (ToT) for private and public industries engaged in Indigenous production and commercialization of Defence technology spin-off for societal usage. DRDO has facilitated 75 Licensing agreements for Transfer of Technology (LATOT) to 57 industries under Make in India program.
