DRDO outlines 18,000 crore investment plan

The country’s premier defence research institute has allocated about 25-30 per cent for developing new projects during the current financial year, Defence Research and Development Organisation Chairman S Christopher said.

Christopher, who is also Secretary, Research and Development, DRDO, was outlining some of the major initiatives to be taken up during the this fiscal at the ongoing DefExpo.

BrahMos Aerospace, CEO and Managing Director, Sudhir Mishra said, “We have a proposal to develop BrahMos next generation missiles which will be termed as BrahMos NG missile.”

“This missile would be lighter than existing BrahMos and will have almost similar kind of ranges and can be launched from various platforms,” he said. As the missiles would be lighter, BrahMos was also planning to have more launches from submarines, ships and aircraft, the chairman said.

DRDO, Director General, Electronics and Communication Systems, J Manjula said DRDO was working on long range radars that can cover over 1,000 kilometres. “We are also working on developing self-protection suites for fighter aircraft and electro-optic surveillance systems for submarines,” she said.

DRDO Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, G Satheesh Reddy, said they were working on “anti-tank missiles” which can be launched both from helicopter and the ground. “Some of the projects that we have in the pipeline is developing long range version of surface-to-air missile (SAM),” he added.

The DRDO chairman said the organisation was also planning to take up “high endurance autonomous under water vehicle” for surveillance applications and developing “autonomous surface ship”. DRDO, Director General (SAM), Chitra Rajgopal said they were working on developing safe-storage solution for ammunition.

“We are also looking at underground solutions which are not so expensive by using various innovative features. In addition, we are also looking at eco-friendly disposal of obsolete ammunition,” she said. CFI serves as a creative hub, encouraging peer learning and providing a platform for ideas to manifest with the support of resources, workspace and mentoring.